


all i want (is love that lasts)

by TheGoatWithAPen



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, And you know I'm not kidding when I say that, Angst, As with all my fics get ready for pining and general idiocy, Based on High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, But we forgive them because they're dumb teenagers, Everyone in this fic will make bad decisions, F/F, Posie Endgame, Slow Burn, Theatre Kids Written By A Theatre Kid, With my own little twists and turns of course, and they're trying their best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:34:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 45
Words: 206,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23926219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGoatWithAPen/pseuds/TheGoatWithAPen
Summary: Josie and Penelope were happily dating when Josie told Penelope that she loved her. A day later, Penelope ended things between them and left Josie with a broken heart.Now Josie has a new girlfriend and there's a new drama teacher in town with plans for a musical that will never be forgotten. But just how life changing will the events of this year be?AKAThe High School Musical: The Musical: The Series AU that no one except me wanted but everyone needed. You don't need to have seen the show to read it, because I'm gonna change a fair bit anyways.
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson & Josie Saltzman, Hope Mikaelson & Penelope Park, Hope Mikaelson/Lizzie Saltzman, Minor Jade/Josie Saltzman, Penelope Park & Josie Saltzman, Penelope Park/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 457
Kudos: 1085





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Did you miss me? :)  
> I'm back with another High School AU that will be so long and such a massive Slow Burn that it will almost be painful, but it'll all be worth it in the end because Posie Endgame! I know there are like negative three Posie's left in this fandom, but to the few that have survived the lack of content, this is for you.  
> Enjoy!

When Josie Forbes-Laughlin woke up on the first day of school, her first thought was “oh fuck me.” Her second thought was about whether or not it was possible to live the rest of her life in her bed.

She rolled over, gripping her pillow just a little tighter to her chest, hoping that somehow it could offer a semblance of support. 

The pillow did nothing, and she groaned when she realized that she’d drooled all over it again. 

Lizzie was right, she had a problem.

She rolled back to face the ceiling, staring up at the fairy lights adorning the roof. She tried to count how many there were. If she was going to stay in this bed for the rest of her life, she should find some activities to keep her occupied.

She got up to twenty-six before a knock sounded at her door.

“Josie?” A voice called out.

She groaned. The door slowly opened and Josie looked up, trying her best to not look like a complete zombie.

Her mum, Caroline peaked her head through, smiling.

“Hey Jo. We’re making pancakes downstairs as motivation, so get your butt out of bed and come join us!” 

Josie sighed. She could already smell the beautiful scent wafting up the stairs to her bedroom. It was a pretty good incentive.

Fine. She would get up, eat the pancakes, and then sneakily return to her bedroom without her mothers noticing. It sounded like a great plan.

Her mum took her new expression of interest as agreement to come downstairs, and she left. 

Josie kicked her legs over the side of the bed, shivering as her bare feet met the cold air.

She needed to talk to her mothers about the air conditioner, and if they could possibly turn it down just a little in the mornings. Even if Lizzie loved the cold. As the two had discussed many times, Lizzie would make a brilliant Princess Elsa.

Josie would prefer Princess Rapunzel. She’d be brilliant at the whole quarantining herself in a tower for eighteen years. Just nothing but her, books, her ukulele, and maybe she would let her friends visit on the weekends. 

Lizzie could come if she promised not to touch any of Josie’s stuff. Josie swore that Lizzie was responsible for at least sixty percent of her missing hairbands and scrunchies.

Josie dressed herself quickly, trying to pick the best outfit for the first day of school. Something that was mature enough that people weren’t looking at her wondering if she was a Year 9, and something cute enough that people wouldn’t think that she was a really young teacher.

Josie would love to say that that had never happened before, but Hope and MG would violently disagree. At the time, she’d had to stand awkwardly and wait for about five minutes for them to stop laughing.

Little traitors.

She picked a little bit of lint off of the edge of her sleeve, and pulled down her skirt so that it sat comfortably around her hips. A little voice in her head asked if there was a reason why she had picked this specific yellow t-shirt, rather than the nice blue one that she bought from the little beach store, or the white one with the flowers. 

That little voice knew exactly why it was asking, and Josie wanted to smack it straight out of her head. She had tried countless times over the summer, but to no avail. It seemed that she was stuck with an annoyingly observant subconscious. 

She shook her head. Less arguing with the voices in your head, and more eating pancakes. 

That sounded like a great motto for the year.

When she got downstairs, Lizzie wasn’t down yet. Josie wasn’t surprised. It would take a miracle to get Lizzie out of bed early. When she saw that her mum wasn't downstairs yet, Josie figured that she was probably trying to figure out how to wake Lizzie up without Lizzie just falling back asleep instantly.

In the meantime, Josie dribbled syrup all over her pancakes, before taking a bite. Delicious, as always.

Her other mother, Josette, walked out from the kitchen.

“Hey sweetie. You ready for your first day? I know it’s a big one. Year 11, you’ll be graduating before you know it!” 

Josie groaned.

“Don’t remind me. I would rather not focus on my imminent doom.”

“Hey, don’t be down on yourself. You’re an intelligent and independent girl. You’re going to smash it.”

Josie took another bite of her pancake. 

“I know. I’m just stressed about school, I always am. I do this every year; you’d think that I’d have learned not to do this by now.”

Her mother sighed.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s natural.” She pursed her lips, and Josie immediately knew that what her mother would say next was something that she probably didn’t want to hear. 

“Is it just school that’s stressing you? Or is it something else?”

Josie looked down at the table. There was a little notch in the table that Josie was pretty sure Hope was responsible for. She ran her fingers over it and tried to find an answer to her mother’s question.

“I’m trying not the think about the ‘something else’,” Josie answered honestly.

Her mother sighed, and Josie was positive that she was in for a deep talk, one that she definitely did not want have right now.

Thankfully, for all her faults, Lizzie did have the gift of amazing timing.

“Oh my god these look so good! Mama, thank you so much!” Lizzie practically tackled Jo with a hug, once that was received with a smile. Their mother followed afterwards, taking a seat next to Lizzie.

“I’m glad that you like them so much. Now, eat up, I’m sure that you’ll be wanting to get to school nice and early so that you can meet up with your friends," their mother told them.

Lizzie huffed.

“You mean MG and Raf, because the other member of our party decided to be a traitor.”

Josie sighed.

“Lizzie, can we not do this right now?”

Lizzie looked at Josie with narrowed eyes.

“Don’t tell me that you’re going to forgive her.”

“There’s not really anything to forgive. I mean, I’m a little mad at her, because I thought she’d take my side on this, but at the end of the day she didn’t really do anything wrong.”

Lizzie huffed again.

“You say that as if the two of you didn’t have the biggest fight I’ve ever seen you two have over this.”

Josie shook her head.

“And you need to stop acting as if you’re just being a good sister and you’re taking my side. I heard you guys yelling outside, remember?”

Lizzie looked down at the table, and Josie felt a little bad for saying that. Even if Lizzie had been the one to bring it up in the first place.

Their mums eyed them nervously, but didn’t try to start any more conversations. They ate the rest of their pancakes in silence. 

+++

Josie was lucky that her and Lizzie managed to get such a good park. She knew that in a matter of minutes, all the students of West High would be descending upon the car park like ants on a fallen piece of food.

It probably had to do with Lizzie and her inability to drive below the speed limit. Honestly, the amount of times that Josie had been certain that Lizzie was going to get pulled over was rising unnecessarily fast.

Maybe Josie should take the wheel on the way home. 

Josie scanned the grounds. There were already so many students milling around, talking to each other, or walking to get to their lockers.

Lizzie sighed and brushed her hair back over her shoulders.

“Are you ready Jo?” 

Josie swallowed. She was not remotely ready, but she remembered once hearing that when you weren’t feeling confident, the best thing was to act confident, and then you’d end up believing that you were.

It sounded like a solid plan. It was just like acting, like playing any other role. Today she would play the role of Josie Forbes-Laughlin, the girl who was totally not bothered by anything or anyone, who was ready to walk through the front doors and deal with anything.

She straightened her back and nodded.

“Let’s do this.”

The twins marched through the front doors and collected their new locker numbers from the front desk. Lizzie’s was in the same hallway as Josie’s, which both of them were excited about, as it meant them not having to walk halfway across the school to see each other. 

Josie could recall countless times when she’d been late to class, because she’d stopped by Lizzie’s locker, and then had to sprint to get her stuff and get to class before the bell rang. 

They were on their way to their lockers when they ran into a friendly face.

“Hey girls! What’s up?” Milton Greasley, better known to his friends as MG, asked. He opened his arms for a hug, and Josie willingly obliged. MG gave really good hugs, and he distributed them to basically anyone who came his way.

“We’re just on our way to get our lockers,” Josie explained as she pulled back. 

MG held out his hand to Lizzie, and she sighed and gave him a fist bump. Lizzie was one of the people that MG had learnt long ago would never hug him. Once he had learnt that she didn’t want a hug, he had quickly accepted, and opted for other methods. Lizzie pretended like it annoyed her, but Josie knew that she secretly liked that MG cared enough to make an exception for her.

“I’ve already got my locker. One of the benefits of my mother being Principal. Even if it meant getting up at the crack of dawn.” He yawned to prove his point and Josie giggled.

“Come on, I’ll go with you. Raf’s already here, his locker is near the science rooms, so we can go get him after you guys have put your stuff away. I don’t know about Hope though,” he stopped for a moment, scanning their faces as they both fell. “Except I’m assuming that you guys still aren’t talking?”

Josie sighed and nodded.

“It’s not a big deal.”

“It’s totally a big deal. She betrayed us in a time of need,” Lizzie argued.

Josie honestly didn’t know why Lizzie was so worked up over Hope. She knew that they’d had a massive fight, one that was definitely bigger than her own with Hope, but she didn’t know any of the details. Lizzie had completely shut down after it, and Josie knew better than to push when Lizzie was in a mood.

She did of course have her theories about the fight, after all, she’d seen the way the two of them had been acting around each other in the weeks going up to the fight.

But that was an issue for another day that wasn’t also the first day of school.

MG nodded.

“Right, well, let’s just get to your lockers.”

The walk there was filled with mindless chatter. Josie hadn’t seen MG all summer, because she’d been away at drama camp. She’d texted him of course, but nothing compared to seeing one of your good friends in the flesh.

Lizzie chipped in as well, but Josie knew that the mention of Hope had gotten her riled up. Josie thought that she just needed to talk to Hope so that she could stop whining and get her best friend back.

Although, Lizzie might only decide to forgive her if Josie forgave her first. Which meant an awkward conversation which Josie again, did not have time for.

Rafael found them just as they were putting away their stuff. Trailing behind him was Landon, but Josie ignored him as she greeted her friend with another hug.

“Hey Raf. It’s good to see you.”

“It’s good to see you too Jo.” He nodded at Lizzie and she smiled back at him.

Lizzie and Raf’s past was a little weird. They had dated for a month back in Year 9, but quickly realized that they weren’t right for each other. It would have been fine, except Raf had sort of dumped her at Homecoming, which led to Lizzie hating him for a whole year. Now they were back to being friends with each other, and Josie was so very glad, because she didn’t think that she’d be able to deal with much longer with that awkwardness. 

“Hey Jo, Lizzie, MG,” Landon greeted, bobbing his head and waving awkwardly.

Josie met his gaze and gave him a small smile. MG hugged him (of course), and Lizzie did nothing. Lizzie had never really liked Landon, for reasons that she had never been very specific about, but again, that was a topic to think about on another day.

He sighed.

“Right, well, I’m gonna go find my friends. I’ll see you Raf,” Landon said, walking away somewhat awkwardly.

Rafael sighed once Landon was out of earshot. 

“So, we’re being weird around all of her friends?” 

Lizzie nodded firmly, and Josie shrugged.

“It’s a show of strength for our girl.” She patted Josie’s shoulder to emphasize her point.

Rafael nodded.

“Right. I’ll make a note to pretend that Landon doesn’t exist.” He grinned, clearly trying to lighten the mood, but Lizzie glared at him and he just awkwardly cleared his throat. 

“Okay, so are we just going to stand here for the rest of the morning? Assembly’s in ten, we could make our way to the gym and try and get good seats?” 

Josie was about to answer when she caught a flash of red hair and immediately looked to see who it was. Judging by the way Lizzie’s hand still resting on her shoulder tightened, she saw it too.

It was Hope. 

Josie felt a little sad that she wasn’t able to call out to her friend right now, welcome her over and talk to her about her summer. Hope had been her friend since she had come to the school, and now their friendship was broken because of one reason.

One stupid reason.

Josie sighed.

“Raf’s right, let’s go to the gym.” 

They all turned around and walked away. Josie was just glad that Hope hadn’t seen her. It would make it all the harder to ignore her if she saw the look on her face.

It was at this very moment that the reason for all the misery and broken friendships turned the corner and came into view. Because the universe really just liked to play with Josie's feelings.

Josie’s heart stopped.

It was really her. Penelope Park. 

Josie instinctively looked her up and down. Of course, Penelope had chosen to wear an outfit that made her look stunning. White shirt, top button undone, black choker, skirt that was painfully short.

Josie torn her eyes away from Penelope’s very nice legs, and met her eyes.

Those stupid green eyes. 

The eyes that Josie had fallen in love with. 

The eyes that had looked at her as Josie held her heart open, the eyes that had barely filled with a tear as she tore Josie apart.

The eyes that now had the audacity to fill with shock, as if she had somehow thought that Josie wouldn’t be here.

She knew that her friends were probably looking at her right now, checking to see if she was okay. 

She wasn’t.

Because walking down the hallway was her ex-girlfriend, the one that had broken up with her barely a week into the holidays.

Josie wanted to say something, to cry out, to scream something, anything at her. Or maybe she wanted to move forwards and pull Penelope towards her, to kiss her as if there had never been any distance between them at all. 

“Hey, Josie!” 

Josie was pulled from the trance that Penelope’s green eyes had somehow pulled her into, and turned with a smile to see the owner of the voice.

Jade bounded up the hallway to her. Josie took a few steps, and suddenly Jade’s arms were around her. 

Josie knew that Jade probably had something to say to her, probably wanted to ask how Josie was or something, but the sight of Penelope had turned her blood to lava, and she needed to do something to reduce the burn.

So, she closed the distance between her and Jade, and kissed her softly on the lips. Jade made a little noise of surprise, but kissed her back all the same. It was nice, even though Josie knew her friends would be judging her for the PDA in a moment. 

She pulled back and Jade smiled at her, eyes just a little bit wider.

“Woah. That was unexpected,” Jade commented, a small grin finding it's way onto her face.

Josie moved her eyes away from Jade, scanning the hallway. Penelope was very noticeably gone. 

She stuck her slowly falling smile back to her face, and slipped a hand into Jade’s, smiling up at her girlfriend.

“Come on, we’re gonna go get seats for the assembly.”

They walked away towards the gym, rolling their eyes at their friends' heckling and teasing, not even noticed that a pair of green eyes were watching them as they left.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm glad to see that so many of you liked the first chapter, and I can't wait to go on this wild ride with all of you! As I mentioned last chapter, this is going to be in Penelope's POV, and you'll get a little more insight into what happened. And of course, you'll get properly introduced to some characters.  
> Enjoy!

Penelope knew that the first day of school was going to be hell. She just hadn’t expected that everything would turn to shit before the first bell even rang.

Her father hadn’t been awake when she’d woken up, so she’d made her own breakfast, and waited for Jed to come and pick her up. 

He hadn’t said anything on the way in, but she knew that he wanted to. Knew that he wanted to ask if she was going to be okay, if seeing her ex-girlfriend wouldn’t be too much. Even if they both knew that it was going to hurt.

Jed didn’t know as much as the rest of her friends, seeing as they only interacted because he was her cousin, but he still knew that Penelope was heartbroken.

He left to find his friends pretty quickly once they got to school, and Penelope went to find her locker. She made sure to check who’d be near her, just so that she could make sure to avoid unnecessary drama. Thankfully, Lizzie and Josie were far away from her, so she wouldn’t have to deal with those interactions every morning.

She’d started to think that maybe this day might not be as bad as she’d thought, that maybe school would just be at its normal level of painful. That was when she saw Josie.

And god, Penelope couldn’t tear her eyes away from her.

She looked so perfect, even though she was just in a yellow shirt and shorts. Although, Penelope did remember saying that she loved that shirt on Josie. She remembered Josie laughing and remarking that she’d have to wear it more often.

And here she was now, on the first day of school, the first time Penelope was seeing her after the breakup, and she was wearing the shirt. 

What the hell did that mean?

Josie looked at her, and Penelope felt like her heart was frozen, like time itself was slowing, just so that she could hold Josie’s gaze for a moment longer.

Josie was an open book when it came to emotions. Penelope had learnt how to read her long ago, back when they were still kids, back before they even considered romantic feelings. She knew how to tell that Josie was putting on a front. 

She could see past the fake smile, could see the tiredness in her eyes, the way her shoulders were just a little bit too slouched, the way that even now, her smile was falling. 

Penelope knew that she was the reason for that sadness, knew that she was the reason that Josie needed to put on a front, and she hated it so much.

Hated that she’d hurt the girl that she cared so much about. 

If it wasn’t bad enough seeing the heartbreak in Josie’s eyes, another person entered the equation, and Penelope felt like she was being kicked in the gut.

A blonde girl, that Penelope recognized as one of the seniors, ran up to Josie, calling out her name with a beam on her face. Penelope knew that beam, knew that look in her eyes. 

She remembered wearing that exact look herself.

Josie turned around, and then suddenly the two were in a searing kiss. 

Oh.

Okay.

So, Josie had already moved on.

Penelope had known that it would happen, that Josie being heartbroken didn’t mean that she’d be shutting herself away from the rest of humanity. She’d even tried moving on a little bit herself over the holiday, but when she’d kissed one of those summer flings, she’d thought of Josie, and she couldn’t do it.

Clearly, Josie didn’t have the same problem.

Penelope sped up her stride, moving to the end of the hallway as quick as possible. She just needed to get out of there, and away from her ex and her new girlfriend. 

“Woah, hey Pen,” a voice called out, and a hand gripped her wrist. 

Penelope yanked her hand away and turned to see who had stopped her. Her shoulders relaxed and she sighed once she realized that it was Hope. 

“Sorry, I just um, well,” she gestured to where Josie and the blonde girl had now disentangled and now were just laughing at each other.

Hope hummed.

“Right. Josie’s new girl.”

“Did she tell you about her?”

Hope scoffed.

“They aren’t talking to me, remember?” 

Penelope winced at the bitter tone in Hope’s voice. She supposed that was deserved.

“Right. Sorry.”

Hope sighed.

“It’s not your fault, the argument wasn’t just about you, it was a bunch of other things. And also, there’s the whole thing with Lizzie.” 

Penelope pulled her gaze away from Josie and frowned at Hope.

“I still think that it was shitty of them to just completely cut you off. You did nothing wrong in my opinion, especially with Lizzie.”

Hope folded her arms across her chest.

“The summer was just a mess. I’m hoping that I can get them to talk to me sooner rather than later so that this whole mess can be over and I can get my best friend back.”

“Ouch.”

Hope winced.

“Sorry, you’re important to me too. And let me remind you again that I did sort of mess up my relationships with both the twins for you.”

“I said I was sorry.”

“I know, and it’s okay, but I’m still allowed to be a little annoyed.”

Penelope sighed.

“Yeah, and I do know that Lizzie was always your number one, just like…”

“Like Josie was yours,” Hope finished for her.

Penelope nodded sadly, and then remembered something that Hope had mentioned over the holidays.

“So, your uncle is starting here today?”

Hope nodded, seemingly glad that they were changing topics.

“Yeah. He was gone before I left this morning, so I guess he’s already got a lot of work to do. He told me that he had a special project, but didn’t give me much information.”

Penelope nodded.

“Well, a new drama teacher with a special project screams exciting, especially considering the train wrecks we’ve had previously.”

Hope sighed.

“You’re being dramatic. The last play was fine.”

“I wouldn’t call Shakespeare in the 90’s turned into a musical ‘fine’.”

Hope shook her head, actually smiling for the first time that morning.

“Okay, fair.”

She jerked her head to the side.

“Come on, let’s get to assembly. Landon and Kaleb will probably already be there.”

+++

Landon, as the faithful friend he was, saved both Hope and Penelope a seat. Kaleb was absent, and Penelope frowned.

“Where’s K?”

Landon shrugged.

“No idea. I haven’t seen him all morning.”

Penelope scanned the bleachers for him, wincing when her gaze almost immediately fell upon Josie. And the blonde girl, with her arm wrapped around Josie.

“Well, hopefully he didn’t get too high last night, because if you miss first day, you miss basically everything.”

The hall started to fall silent, and Penelope turned to the front, where Mrs Greasley, their principal, was stepping up to the microphone.

“Good Morning East High. I trust that your holidays were restful, and that you have all come to this new year with a positive mindset, and a will to learn.” Penelope didn’t even have to look to know that Hope and Landon were eyerolling in unison with her. “I have a few announcements, and then we will have a co-curricular presentation.”

Penelope frowned.

“How the hell do we already have a co-curricular presentation, it’s day one.” 

A Year 9 turned back to shush her and Penelope rolled her eyes again, subtly flipping them off. Landon laughed, but had to turn it into a cough when people looked at him.

For the rest of Mrs Greasley’s speech, Penelope was zoned out as she counted the squares on the wall across from her. She was brought back when Hope nudged her.

“And now, I would like to introduce our newest staff member Mr. Kol Mikaelson, our new Head of Dramatic Arts. He is going to give us a quick presentation on the school musical.”

The hall burst into animated chatter at the prospect of a new teacher, and those who knew Hope, were moving their heads around to try and find her. Penelope turned to Hope with a raised eyebrow.

“Kol? That’s really his name?” She asked, and Hope elbowed her.

A hush fell on the crowd as a new man walked up to the podium, raising his hands for silence. Behind him stood Kaleb. When he met Penelope’s astonished gaze, he flicked her a quick wink. 

“Hello students of East High, as you were just told, I am Mr. Mikaelson, and I will be taking over the drama program here. Now, I know that most of you are aware that ten years ago, your school was host to one of the most iconic movies of the 2000s, High School Musical. It was filmed in this very hall, and I will have all of you know, that I was actually featured in that movie as an extra.” 

A babble of talk broke out again, and Penelope took the opportunity to look at Hope.

“Is that true?”

Hope shrugged. 

Kol started speaking once more.

“So, imagine my surprise and disappointment upon realizing that your school had never actually done a production of that famous musical. This mistake is going to be rectified, have no fear, because for the musical this year, we shall be doing our very own production of High School Musical.”

Again, chatter broke out, this time with more energy. Penelope looked at Hope.

“This is his special project?”

Hope nodded.

“I guess so.”

Penelope bit her lip, turning back to Kol. He grinned up at them.

“I know, it’s exciting. Auditions will be held on Thursday afternoon, more information will be posted on the school’s website if you are interested, and make no mistake, you should be interested. We are going to be making history.” He extended his arm to Kaleb. “Kaleb here has been selected as my student director, and will be assisting me with auditions.” He nodded at the audience and stepped back.

“That’s all I have to say, so until next time, go Wildcats!”

The hall erupted into thunderous applause. Penelope chuckled.

“That’s your uncle? Why the hell didn’t you inherit any of his charm?” 

Hope actually slapped her in response, and Penelope would have yelled something rude at her, but Mrs. Greasley quietened them all down.

She sat there for the last few minutes, mind already spinning with all the possible things that she could do to make this next musical one that no one would ever forget.

+++

Penelope got through most of the day without interacting with Josie. She went to classes, and even the ones that she shared with Josie, she managed to sit far away from her. She interrogated Kaleb about the musical, and teased Landon for already having a crush on one of the new kids. 

And of course, she stared at Josie mournfully. It was okay though, because Hope was basically doing the same thing with Lizzie.

Lunch was literally the worst thing Penelope had ever experienced. Because not only did she get to very acutely feel the absence of Josie and her friends, but she got to see Jade and Josie being all cute on their table. 

The thing was, Hope and Penelope had once been so close to Josie and Lizzie. They were basically all childhood friends, had grown up together. There had been a time when they, as well as Landon and Kaleb, sat with them and their group.

But Penelope had gone and fucked everything up. Even now she could tell that Landon and Kaleb were sad about it. Their group of four had managed to function by itself pretty well, and a lot of the time, their hangouts had been by themselves, but they’d had friends there too for whenever they needed them.

Landon’s foster brother Rafael was Lizzie’s ex, and Kaleb and MG were always a dynamic duo, and Penelope knew that they missed their friends. The two of them knew her reasons for ending it with Josie though, even if Landon knew a little more than Kaleb.

She sighed and turned back to her friends.

“This is hell.”

“A hell of your own making, but sure,” Kaleb added.

She sighed.

“I know. I know, I fucked up but I stand by the decision, and I’m not going back on it. Especially not now that she’s moved on. I can’t risk making this worse.”

Kaleb sighed, pointing a fry at her.

“Pen, I love you, and usually your dramatics are entertaining, but I can already tell this decision is going to bring you a lot of unwanted drama.”

She sighed, and pressed her palms into her eyes. Kaleb was probably right, she was probably stupid, and honestly, half of her was screaming to just walk over to Josie’s table and say that she wanted her back.

But she couldn’t do that anyways, even if she wasn’t committed to her decision, because Josie had Jade now.

Jade. That was the name of the senior that Josie was now currently having her honeymoon with in the middle of the cafeteria. She was the captain of the water polo team, and she did theatre, and she got perfect grades, and everyone loved her.

Penelope knew that she was probably a lovely person, but she really wanted to slap her. 

Landon sighed.

“It’s no use convincing her K, she’s made up her mind, and you know Pen can’t be dissuaded from any decision she makes once she’s made it.” 

Penelope nodded, dropping her hands back to the table. Her plate of food was basically untouched; it seemed that seeing Josie kissing someone else made her lose her appetite.

She couldn’t ignore the voice in her head that was screaming at her on repeat _It’s your fault it’s your fault it’s your fault you had one good thing in your life and you fucked it up no wonder your mum wants nothing to do with you you fucked up you fucked up-_

Penelope pushed herself up from the table.

“I’m gonna go to the library. I’ve got a free next and I should do some study.” 

“You haven’t eaten!” Landon called after her, but she didn’t answer.

She didn’t notice, but Josie’s eyes followed her all the way out of the cafeteria.

+++

Penelope couldn’t concentrate. She was trying to read her Chemistry textbook so that she could be ahead when she had her first class, but all she could think about was Josie, and Josie and Jade, and how she’d ruined her friends relationship with the twins, how pretty Josie was, how hurt she’d looked, and an endless loop of all her mistakes.

In short, she was fucked. 

So, she shut the book with an audible slam that got her dirty looks from the others in the library, and stood up, packing away her stuff.

Fuck this. She might as well just go for a walk outside. Maybe it would help her clear her head.

She stormed through the hallway, earplugs still in, blasting music so loudly that kids in the classes could probably hear.

She should have paid attention to her surroundings. If she had then maybe she could have avoided the coming interaction.

But Penelope was in her own world, feeling sorry for herself, and so, she slammed straight into the cause of all her heartache.

“Shit,” she mumbled, pulling out an earplug. She looked up and felt her heart actually flip in her chest.

“Josie.”

Josie laughed, but there was no humor in her tone.

“Watch where you’re going,” she muttered, looking away.

Penelope took a step back.

“Sorry.”

Josie laughed again, the same cold laugh.

“Yeah, it’s a bit late to be saying that.”

Wow. Barely ten seconds into their first interaction since and Penelope had bashed into Josie, and now Josie was bringing up the breakup.

Yeah, Penelope was about to get her heart stepped on.

So, time for a special trick. The ‘act cold so that you can protect your heart’. A Penelope Park classic.

“Bitter words for someone who was practically trying to conceive a child at lunch today," she said with a smirk, like she hadn't been at all bothered by it, like she thought it was funny.

Josie went red, and Penelope felt a sense of bitter satisfaction.

“Yeah well I’m just surprised that you didn’t have someone already following your every word. Are the girls at this school not good enough for you, or do they just have standards?” Josie snapped back.

Penelope scoffed.

“You say that but I do recall you singing a different tune just a few months ago. What were your exact words? ‘I guess I kind of know’? No, that’s not it.”

Josie’s knuckles turned white around her textbooks.

“Shut up Penelope. You don’t get to pull this.” 

“I’m not the one who brought it up.”

Josie looked away.

For a moment, there was silence, and Penelope almost considered walking away. But then Josie spoke again, voice quiet but strong.

“And I’m not the one who was such a coward that they chose to break a heart instead of facing their own emotions.” Josie didn’t look at Penelope for a moment longer, she just walked past Penelope, barely brushing her shoulder.

Penelope stood and stared at the empty space where Josie had once been for a few moments.

“Fuck,” she muttered. She strode down the rest of the hallway and shoved the door open. Once it had slammed behind her she yelled out.

“Fuck!” She kicked a rock and then walked until she found a place that was mostly hidden from view. She slid down the wall and dropped to the floor, feeling like Josie had ripped out her guts when she’d walked away.

Penelope told herself that Josie was wrong. She had other reasons. Like the way Josie’s face fell whenever Lizzie took something that Josie wanted, or the millions of texts Penelope had received, cancelling their dates. Or maybe the way that Penelope had actually felt Josie slipping away, the way that she’d realised that she wasn’t Josie’s top priority, or even her second, and maybe that was okay, but it still tore Penelope up. Or the way that she knew that she’d never be good enough for Josie, no matter how hard she tried.

But there was some part of her that had been scared. Some part of her, probably the part that her mother and fathers rapidly deteriorating relationship had created, just couldn’t handle hearing those words. Couldn’t handle being loved.

Penelope rested her head against the wall.

No matter the reason, she had fucked up, and likely, she would never be anything to Josie again. 

But that didn’t mean that Penelope wasn’t going to stop trying to make sure that everyone saw Josie.

She thought about the musical.

And the wheels of her brain started turning, as another plan began to form.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I know it's not what you guys probably would have wanted for a first Posie interaction, but you gotta go through the angst to get the fluff, right? Also, why do I keep making Penelope have so many issues? I should be nicer to her.  
> I know you probably have questions about what happened between Hope and the twins, and why exactly Penelope broke up with Josie, but all will be revealed in time! Hopefully, I'll be able to update very soon, and we'll be switching back to Josie for that one! Until then, I hope y'all are doing okay out in your quarantines!  
> P.S Watch The Half Of It on Netflix, it's so good and it made me feel so many things!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I'm back with a speedy update!  
> Today you'll be getting Josie's perspective, along with a Posie flashback that might fill in a blank or two.   
> Let's jump right into it!  
> Enjoy!

Josie was stressed. And pissed. And also, nauseous.

Literally, the worst feelings.

First of all, finding out that Hope’s uncle was the new head of drama took her mind for a spin. Josie had never met him before, but had heard many tales of Hope’s free-spirited Uncle Kol who traveled the world, and had acted in a bunch of little productions.

He was very charismatic, and Josie was just excited to have a drama teacher who seemed to actually care. Plus, High School Musical? Josie had basically been raised on that movie

Her mums definitely had a video of an eight-year-old Josie belting the lyrics to Breaking Free. 

Now, maybe she’d never been the lead in a school production, but at drama camp over the summer, she had stepped in as the lead when the girl who was meant to be playing it got food poisoning.

And it had been the best experience in the world. 

Honestly, drama camp had been the best decision she’d made in a while, because not only had it given her the chance to shine, but she’d met Jade.

She’d always known Jade. She was the pretty girl in the year above them who was good at literally everything. Why she’d taken in an interest in Josie was yet to be discovered, but it was nice. Jade was nice.

And that was what Josie needed right now. Someone who wasn’t scared to admit that they cared and someone who believed in her.

Unlike Penelope fucking Park.

The two’s history was fairly straightforward. They had met when they were kids, and had been best friends ever since. Then that strong friendship had matured, and at the start of Year 10, they’d started dating. 

It had been perfect. Penelope was attentive, and she cared, and she made Josie smile, and made Josie feel like no one else in the world mattered. And yeah, maybe she wasn’t as open about her own life as Josie would have liked, but everyone was allowed to have secrets.

In short, Josie had fallen in love. 

And she’d wanted to tell Penelope in a way that meant something. A way that was special, because well, Penelope was special.

So, she’d written a song. A silly song, but one that expressed what she was feeling.

\---  
 _  
“Pen, I have something to show you.”_

_Penelope looked up from her phone._

_“Please tell me that it’s a cute animal.”_

_Josie rolled her eyes and tugged Penelope’s arm, doing her best puppy dog eyes. Penelope sighed dramatically and moved over to sit next to Josie so that she could see the video on her phone._

_On Josie’s screen was a video that she’d posted a few minutes ago to her singing account._

_Penelope looked at Josie with wonder in her eyes._

_“Is this a song? Like, one that you wrote?”_

_Josie laughed and nodded._

_“Yeah, now shhhh. Watch.”_

_And so, Penelope did._

_Josie watched as her face lit up when she realised that the song was about her. And she watched the look of shock in her eyes when Josie sang the words “I guess I’m saying I don’t not love you.”_

_It was silly, but Josie thought Penelope would like it. They’d never been a serious couple. They joked around in class, and used cheesy pickup lines on each other._

_The video finished and Josie smiled._

_“It's true Penelope. I love you,” she told her, resting her hand on Penelope’s knee._

_Penelope’s eyes were wide, and her mouth hung just a little bit open. Josie waited for a reaction._

_“Oh.”_

_Oh?_

_That didn’t sound good._

_Penelope cleared her throat and pushed herself off of the bed. Josie frowned as Penelope completely avoided eye contact._

_“I um, I just remembered that my dad wanted me back early to do some chores. Apparently, I’ve been lacking around the house. You know my parents, once they decide they want something done there’s no stopping it. It’s one of the infamous Park traits.”_

_Josie knew Penelope well enough to know that this was one of her nervous avoidance rambles. What she didn’t understand was why Penelope was doing it?_

_“Pen, are you okay?”_

_Penelope nodded, but didn’t say anything._

_Josie sighed and stood up._

_“Look, if this is about what I just said, you don’t have to say it back. It’s okay, I just wanted to tell you.”_

_Penelope’s posture relaxed slightly, but there was still a wild look in her eyes like she was a rabbit that had just sighted a fox. She reached out and took Josie's hands._

_“I know. And it’s not about that. I just really need to get going.”_

_Josie’s fears weren’t totally dissuaded, but she figured that she could give Penelope the benefit of the doubt. They had been dating for almost a year now and had been friends for most their life. Surely if something was really wrong, Penelope would tell her._

_“Okay, well, text me later?”_

_Penelope nodded and just before she left, she leaned in and kissed Josie softly. Josie smiled and moved her hands to cup Penelope's cheeks. When Penelope pulled away Josie groaned and pouted._

_"You're sure that you have to leave?" She looked into Penelope's eyes and saw that the look of terror had mostly faded from her eyes. But now there was something else in them, something almost like Penelope was trying to commit Josie's face to memory._

_"I know. I'd love to stay longer, but I really do have to get going." Penelope squeezed one of Josie's hands, and then walked out the door, leaving Josie with an uneasy feeling in her stomach._  
  
\--- 

Josie sighed as she pulled herself out of the unhappy memory. 

There was no text that night.

Instead, the very next morning Penelope showed up at Josie’s house and broke her heart into tiny little pieces.

Told her that she’d been planning to break up for ages, and that she didn’t love Josie and didn’t think that she’d be able to.

And wow, Josie didn’t think it was possible for once person to cause so much hurt, for one person to feel so much hurt.

But it was.

Telling Penelope that she loved her had meant to be a happy moment, she’d written a cute song, and sung it for Penelope. It had meant to be something that she could talk about in the future, something she could look back on with a smile. And she’d thought they were happy, thought that Penelope wanted her back the same way. 

Apparently not. 

Josie hadn’t left her room for two days. Lizzie and her mothers had had to leave her meals by her door to make sure that she didn’t starve herself.

Eventually, Lizzie came in and helped Josie start pulling herself out of the pit of misery that she’d been thrown into.

And then she’d called Hope over to talk, hoping that the girl who was basically her best friend would be able to give her support.

Instead, she’d taken Penelope’s side. Said that she was struggling right now, and that she saw both of their sides. Josie had not exactly taken that well. Hope was meant to stick with her through thick and thin, and here she was, taking her ex’s side over hers. It had spiraled into a bigger argument about their friendship, and a bunch of little things had come up, things that Josie was sure they both regretted saying. 

It would have been fine, Josie could have fairly easily made up with Hope with a proper talk, but somehow Lizzie and Hope ended up in a shouting match outside their house. Josie didn’t hear anything that was said, and honestly, if you asked her, she couldn’t tell you who had hurt the other more. 

After all that mess Josie had only a week to emotionally prepare herself for drama camp. For the first time, she was going to something without Lizzie, because they’d both agreed that this was something that Josie should do alone, because Lizzie far preferred the singing and makeup parts of drama, and it was Josie who liked the acting. Josie knew that Lizzie didn’t like the acting, because she found it hard to be anyone other than herself, and Josie found acting easy for the exact opposite reason.

Drama camp was good. At first. And then Josie had met Jade, and suddenly, it was great. Jade talked to her, and they became close over midnight snacks and dressing room antics. A few nights before the opening of their play, Jade kissed Josie in the woods, and Josie could barely sleep that night because she was so excited. She’d ended up calling Lizzie and they’d screamed about it for a little bit. 

And then she’d been the lead in the play, so, she’d made a decision. The next school year, she was going to go for what she wanted. She was going to get a lead role in whatever the school musical was, and she was going to kill it, and no one could stop her.

Not even her evil ex. Who had apparently picked up witchcraft, because she still managed to appear in every one of Josie’s dreams, no matter how much she tried to not think about her. No matter how much Josie had convinced herself that she was moving on. 

So, as a strategy to avoid thoughts of Penelope, she’d focused on the musical auditions. It was fairly simple. All you had to do was sing a song that your chosen character sang. Easy peasy, so Josie had been running over Start of Something New non-stop the past few days. 

Lizzie was going to apply to help out with makeup and costumes, as she claimed that the drama department would simply not function without her.

The rest of her friends were getting into it as well. Rafael was going to try his hand at auditioning for Troy. She knew he wasn’t a half bad singer, and she had to admit, having a friend playing her romantic interest would be good, so that it wasn’t awkward or anything. MG was going to be helping Kaleb out with student directing, and he was already trying to think up some cool choreography.

And Jade, of course, was auditioning. Originally, she had been planning to go for Troy, so that her and Josie could be ‘a power couple on and off stage’, but had realized that Sharpay would be a role that she’d enjoy more, so Josie had been receiving a video of her practicing Bop to the Top every day.

It was cute, and Jade was a pretty good singer, so she watched every video with a smile on her face.

Her treacherous brain reminded her of all the times Penelope had sent her cute singing videos. Whenever that happened, she’d just watch Jade’s video again so that she could forget.

When it came to the day of auditions, Josie was freaking out. She’d never actually played the lead role in a show, and she wasn’t even sure if she was good enough. There were plenty of talented kids at the school, and she’d heard that there were these two new kids who were going to be trying out for the musical, so she had no idea what to expect there.

In short, she was going into full panic mode, and no matter what, none of her friends could pull her out of it. The closest anyone had got was either Lizzie telling her to woman up and face this with the strength of a true Forbes-Laughlin girl, or Jade telling her softly that she was plenty talented and that Kol wasn’t going to know what hit him. 

Speaking of Kol, Josie was excited to finally interact with him. She’d only seen him passing, and only MG had talked to him. Apparently, he was the same in person as he had been in his speech, very passionate and charming, with a good sense of humor well. Josie just hoped that he liked her. 

The school day carried on, and her friends were all talking about the auditions. Josie tried to join in with the conversations, but she was just too nervous. 

When she saw Penelope across the cafeteria, talking to Hope, she wondered what the two of them were going to do. Hope had always liked playing a minor role, just because she enjoyed the freeing feeling of theatre. She liked creating things, had a good singing voice, and considering that her uncle was the drama teacher, she’d definitely be going for a role.

As for Penelope, Josie wasn’t sure. She liked going for a lead role, and as she had this sort of charm that seemed to draw every eye in the room to herself, something that Josie found she herself lacked, she’d usually get it. However, Josie got the feeling that she wouldn’t go for Gabriella. She didn’t know why, but she just felt like it wasn’t Penelope’s type of role. She’d most likely go for Sharpay. She’d do well as the snarky bitch character. 

That would mean that Penelope would be going up against Jade, and Josie was honestly a little scared of that option. Penelope would definitely try to stir some shit up, and Josie was not looking forwards to that. No matter what happened, it would be over the top, that was just how Penelope always did it.

Penelope met her eye across the cafeteria. Josie, for some godforsaken reason, didn’t look away. Penelope held her gaze for a moment, and then winked, actually fucking winking at her.

The audacity of this girl. Josie had half a mind to walk over their and slap her. And then maybe kiss her because her treacherous stomach was filling with butterflies.

No. 

Josie was over Penelope Park and that was final. She had a new girlfriend, one who she liked very much, and she was not going to fall back into Penelope’s trap.

Josie moved closer to Jade, leaning her head on her shoulder, just to try and banish all thought of Penelope from her mind.

It really sucked that it didn’t work.

+++

The afternoon came, and Josie was practically ready to sprint out of the school and keep running until she was in a place where no one even knew what High School Musical was. 

Or maybe she could go find a nice farm and get a few goats, or maybe a chicken. 

Lizzie seemed to sense Josie’s fear, because she wrapped an arm around her shoulders and started walking them towards the drama room.

“Come on Jo. No backing out now. We’re going to those auditions, and you are actually going to kill it.” 

Josie sighed. 

“How do you know? What if I forget how to sing it, or I’m off key?”

Lizzie snorted, keeping them walking.

“Jo, I’ve heard you practicing that song so many times, that now, it’s you singing the song that’s stuck in my head, not the actual version. I’m pretty sure I heard you singing it in your sleep the other night. And I know for a fact that you have more talent than any other girl in this school, so believe me when I say that you will crush everyone else.”

Josie sighed, and then nodded, trying to force confidence into her voice. 

“Okay, yes, you’re right. I’m gonna kill it. I was born for this. Kol isn’t going to know what hit him.”

Lizzie patted her shoulder.

“That’s the spirit. Now get in there, everyone else is waiting, and I think Jade was starting to get worried.”

Josie smiled at the thought of Jade worrying about her.

She walked in, and Jade was the first one to notice her.

Lizzie quickly moved over to their friends so as to give Josie and Jade some space.

“Hey Jose, you had me worried, I thought you were going to ditch us,” Jade said, kissing her quickly.

Josie laughed nervously once they pulled apart. 

“Nope, Lizzie convinced me to stay.”

Jade grinned.

“Well that’s good, because I couldn’t miss the girl I loved auditioning for her big role.” The moment the words left her mouth, Jade’s eyes widened. Josie was pretty sure that hers did as well.

Did Jade just tell her that she loved her for the first time?

Right here, in the theatre?

How was Josie supposed to respond? 

Did she love Jade?

The answer was obviously no, but now that Jade had said it, she felt bad.

Jade laughed nervously, shifting her feet.

“I didn’t mean to say that now, but it’s still true. I do love you, and that’s how I know that you’re going to ace it.” She squeezed Josie’s shoulder.

Josie stumbled over her words.

“I, uh, um, well I,” she stuttered.

Jade laughed.

“It’s okay Jose, you don’t have to say it back. I just wanted you to know. Come on, let’s go to the others.”

Josie stood with her friends, all of them running over their songs, or just talking about the movie, and she let her gaze drift around the hall, trying to distract herself from all the thoughts swirling in her brain.

She saw the two new kids, the new twins, actually, standing to the side. She was pretty sure that they were called Ethan and Maya. They looked nice, but Josie knew when it came to theatre, even the nicest people could tear your throat out in a second. 

She noticed that while Landon and Kaleb were standing to the side talking, and Hope was sitting down, reading over what were presumably her lines, Penelope was nowhere to be found. Josie frowned. Penelope wouldn’t just miss an audition. 

Maybe something had happened. Josie immediately tried to stop herself from caring. It was Penelope. Why the hell should Josie care if something had happened? If she didn’t turn up, that would be better, because then Josie wouldn’t have to deal with her in the musical.

She was shaken out of her thoughts by a door swinging open and a voice calling out.

“Alright actors! I am here so let’s get this audition started, shall we?” Kol strode down to the desk that was set out before the stage, and started unpacking his bag. Kaleb stepped forwards, taking charge as Kol prepared. 

“Everyone get up on the stage and stand in a circle,” he instructed calmly. 

They all gathered on the stage in a circle. Kol gathered up his stuff and jumped up onto the stage. 

“Right, well I’m going to run us through a few quick warmups, then I’m going to ask each of you for your role and then we’ll get to the auditions.”

They all nodded and he grinned at them. Somehow, his excitement made Josie feel more at ease. 

They ran through the warmup quickly. They were the standard vocal and body warmups that you’d feel embarrassed to do anywhere but here. There was just something about everyone doing the same stupid thing that brought you together. Josie even found herself smiling at Hope at one point.

Kol clapped his hands.

“Right, now I want everyone to pair up with someone they don’t usually talk to. You’ll do the next few warmups together. Theatre is all about new experiences, and this is to be your family for the next few months.”

Josie wasn’t quite sure what to do, she’d never been good at talking to new people, but suddenly, Maya was in front of her, with a smile that seemed to be far too wide.

“Hey, I’m Maya, wanna partner up?”

Josie just nodded, feeling a little bit out of her depth.

"Yeah, sure, I'm Josie," she replied, extending her hand to Maya. Maya did not shake it. 

As they warmed up, Josie tried to make conversation.

“So, how are you liking West High?”

Maya shrugged.

“It’s pretty nice. I’m really excited for this production though. Who are you going for?”

“Oh, um, Gabriella.”

Maya beamed at her, but Josie noticed that it did in no way meet her eyes.

“Oh wow, same! Have you ever played the lead before?”

Josie swallowed.

“Well, not really, but I was understudy to a lead at drama camp, and she got food poisoning, so I went on for her.”

Maya kept smiling.

“Wow, I’ve never been an understudy, you’ll have to tell me all about it!”

Josie decided right then and there that she didn’t like this girl. Passive aggressive bullshit was not something she wanted to deal with. She just wished that people could be upfront about their insults and bitchiness instead of masking it with a smile. 

Her and Maya remained in tense silence for the rest of the warmup. Penelope still didn’t show up. Not that Josie cared, of course. 

Once they were done with warming up, Kol got them to stand in a line and then he went down, getting everyone’s roles down. With each person, he tried to guess who they’d be going for, and Josie noted with surprise that he seemed to be getting them all right.

“Maya, oh I know exactly what you want, Gabriella!” 

She beamed at him and Josie imagined how nice it would be to set her just a little bit on fire.

Okay maybe she needed to cool it a little bit with that particular impulse. 

“And Ethan, well, I already know that you’ll make a perfect Ryan.”

Ethan nodded.

Kol turned to Hope and grinned.

“Ah, my favorite niece. Mrs Darbus, I do recall you telling me.” 

Hope rolled her eyes.

“Yes.” 

He winked at her and then moved to the next person. 

Soon enough, he was on to Josie’s friends.

“Alright, Rafael, is it? Most people would think Chad, but to me, I think you’re here to go for the big role. You’re going out for Troy.”

Rafael grinned and nodded.

“That’s right.”

Kol turned to Jade and grinned.

“Oh, I don’t even have to ask here. Sharpay Evans, correct?”

Jade nodded and suddenly he was in front of Josie, looking her up and down.

“Hmmm, you strike me as a Taylor, correct?”

For a moment, Josie considered saying yes, and just taking the easy way out, but she found the strength to shake her head.

“No, I want to audition for Gabriella.” She expected Kol to be disappointed, or maybe to insist to go for Taylor, but instead he laughed.

“Oh, I like it when students surprise me. Gabriella it is, Miss Josette.” 

Josie caught Maya glaring at her out of the corner of her eye, but she ignored it. 

He got to the end of the line and nodded.

“Right, well, now that that’s all done, why don’t we get into the auditions? Let’s have the Gabriella’s up first.” 

He and Kaleb sat down at the desk and Josie felt the nerves well and truly crawl into her stomach.

Jade rubbed her arm.

“Don’t worry Jose, you’ll be perfect up there.”

Kol called out the order that they’d be going in, and Josie was terrified to realize that she’d be going last, right after Maya.

As each girl sang, Josie felt worse and worse. There was some serious talent here, and she just knew Maya would blow it out of the park.

And where the hell was Penelope?

Was she lying dead in a gutter somewhere?

Josie didn’t want to be worried about her, but seriously, this wasn’t like her.

When Maya got up, Josie felt pure fear. She, of course, nailed her song. She hit every note and made Josie feel completely insecure.

She was totally going to embarrass herself here.

Jade nudged her as everyone clapped for Maya.

“You’ve got this,” she whispered. Josie thought of her confession earlier, and for a moment, she wondered why it was that she felt so against saying the words back? Jade was so supportive and caring, Josie should love her. So, what was holding her back?

The universe clearly thought it was hilarious, because it answered her question quite literally.

The door swung open and everyone turned to see who it was.

Penelope Park, guitar case in hand, striding down to meet them.

Kol turned to see her and smiled.

“Ah, Miss Park. I was assured that you’d be here, so I’m glad that you didn’t disappoint. Now, um, we’re close to finishing up the Gabriella auditions, but I can slot you in after Josie if you’d like? Unless you have another role in mind, perhaps Sharpay?” 

Josie felt Jade stiffen next to her, and so she placed a placating hand on her thigh.

Penelope just smiled, that devious smile that meant she was up to no good.

Josie knew that whatever she was about to say, it was not going to be something that Josie wanted to hear.

“Actually, I wanted to try out for Troy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Penelope wants to audition for the love interest of the character that Josie's going for? That'll end well.   
> I know some of you are probably waiting for Jasie to breakup, but just give it some time. I didn't tag this as slow burn for nothing ;)  
> Next chapter we'll get to see both Josie's audition and Penelope's audition, from Penelope perspective. If any of you have seen the show, you might know what that means...  
> Until then, much love, and if you're enjoying this, please comment your thoughts!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have returned! It's time for Penelope's POV, and let me tell you, there's a fair bit of Posie in this chapter! I won't tell you anymore than that!  
> Enjoy!

The past week had mostly been a nightmare.

Seeing Josie and Jade being cute all the time? Terrible. Penelope really wished there was a way that she could unsubscribe from having their relationship forced down her throat at all times.

School was also not fun, because she was being showered in work, and Penelope really understood why people said that this year was hard. And of course, along with that, she’d been getting ready for the auditions.

Her plan to audition to Troy was one that had come to her while she was nearly crying over Josie after their fight.

She wanted to make sure that she could support Josie, and she knew that Josie would be going for the lead. She knew that no amount of Josie wanting to put herself second for stop Josie from going for it, because Penelope knew that Josie had wanted this since she was a kid. Plus, she'd heard a rumor that Lizzie was going to be doing makeup only this year, so Josie wouldn't feel bad about competing with her for a lead. 

Penelope still hated the memory of the years where she'd watched Josie on the side lines, watched her wilting like a flower when it can't find the sun. She was never going to let that happen to Josie again.

So, what better to support Josie, and to ensure that she really got a chance to shine then by auditioning for Troy? As her co-lead, Penelope could stand by her side, and do everything in her power to make Josie the star. And yes, maybe her intentions were just a little selfish, and maybe she just wanted an excuse to spend time with Josie, but who could blame her?

It would also work out fairly well, considering the talent from the rest of the school. Jade would go for Sharpay, and with little to no competition, she’d get it. Josie would be up against all the usual suspects, and judging by the rumors, this new girl, Maya, but Penelope knew that Josie could beat them.

As for the role of Troy, Penelope knew that she had far more talent than any of the boys in the school. She’d checked with Kaleb to make sure that it was okay for a girl to audition for a male role, and then she’d set her plan into motion. She'd be there, nice and early, make a little bit of eye contact with Josie, and then reveal that she wanted to go for Troy when Kol asked. 

Her plan would have gone perfectly, but Ms Davina Claire had other ideas.

Ms Claire was the chemistry teacher. She cared deeply about her work, and not that Penelope would ever admit it, but she was one of her favorite teachers. Which was why she’d even picked chemistry in the first place. 

However, with all the musical prep, she may have forgotten to do the Chemistry Quiz that happened to be due.

She was almost out the door when Ms Claire called after her.

“Penelope, your quiz.”

She spun around, trying to charm her way out of the situation with her signature Park smile.

“What about it?”

Ms Claire folded her arms across her chest.

“You haven’t done it, and it’s due today.”

Penelope winced.

“Can I do it when I get home?”

Ms Claire sighed.

“I’d prefer it if you did it now. It’ll take fifteen minutes tops, and then you can go hang out with your friends or whatever it is that you do in your spare time.”

Penelope continued to try and get out of it.

“I actually have musical auditions.”

Ms Claire rose an eyebrow.

“Well, in that case, you can definitely stick around.”

“I need to be on time.”

“Mr Mikaelson doesn’t strike me as one who would care overly about punctuality. Besides, a school theatre production is not as important as your actual grade.”

Penelope wanted to launch into a full presentation about how Ms Claire was so very wrong, with a detailed talk about how the arts were dismissed as less important, and maybe a quick history lesson on her and Josie, but she decided that just doing the quiz was probably a better idea, and was far less time and energy consuming.

It shouldn’t have taken her so long, but Penelope’s buzzing brain mixed with her need to do her best was not a great combination.

When she finally handed in the quiz, Ms Claire nodded, and Penelope prepared to run.

“One more thing, Miss Park.”

Penelope sighed and turned back around.

“I expect the best from you. I know this may not be a priority subject for you, but I know that you can do well, so I expect you to at least try.” 

Penelope nodded.

“And you’ll have it. Now, can I please get to auditions?”

Ms Claire nodded, and Penelope all but sprinted out of the science room.

She had to grab her guitar from the music room, where she’d stored it, and then she was racing to the drama room. She checked the time. It was 3:50, and auditions started at 3:40. Had she really taken that long?

As she came to the door, she waited, listening for any signs that an audition was currently going. She may be a petty bitch sometimes, but she wasn’t about to screw up someone’s audition.

Thankfully, it seemed like someone had just finished, judging by the applause in the room. So, she pushed the door open and walked in.

Every head in the room turned to her, but Penelope acted like she didn’t notice. Kol gave her his charming smile when he saw her.

“Ah, Miss Park. I was assured that you’d be here, so I’m glad that you didn’t disappoint. Now, um, we’re close to finishing up the Gabriella auditions, but I can slot you in after Josie if you’d like? Unless you have another role in mind, perhaps Sharpay?” 

Penelope couldn’t hold back her smile. Oh, she did love it when she got to surprise people. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Josie watching her. It took every inch of her willpower to not look over at her. 

“Actually, I wanted to try out for Troy,” Penelope said confidently.

Okay, as mad as Penelope was at herself for being late to the auditions, it was a total power move to show up late and then announce that she was auditioning for the male lead.

It was times like these that she really knew that drama was definitely a good path for her, because she definitely knew how to be dramatic. Most of the students started whispering. A few specific reactions that Penelope could make out were Josie’s wide eyes, Rafael’s scowl, and Hope’s look of annoyance and surprise. 

Yeah, Hope was going to kill her for not telling her. In Penelope’s defense, she knew that Hope wouldn’t like it, and she really didn't want to deal with Hope trying to talk her out of it.

Kol lifted his eyebrows, the smile still on his face.

“Wow, that makes two people who have surprised me today! Alright Miss Park, I’ll put you down for Troy. We’ll be doing those auditions right next; we just have one last Gabriella.”

Penelope nodded, and walked over to sit next to Landon and Hope. Landon gave her a little nod, which she returned. She had told him about auditioning for Troy because she’d wanted at least one person backing her. Landon would approve of pretty much any decision she made, that was just the type of friend he was.

Hope, on the other hand, smacked her upside the head.

“Moron,” she muttered.

Penelope was about to reply, when she realized who was on stage, preparing to audition.

Josie.

God, how did Penelope manage to forget how pretty she was every single time she saw her?

And here, with the stage lights falling down on her like some sort of halo from heaven, well, Penelope could feel her heart basically screaming out to Josie.

Kol called out to her.

“Whenever you’re ready Josette!”

Penelope had half a mind to correct him, because she knew that Josie didn't like being called that, but decided that interrupting right now would not be good for her or Josie.

Josie opened her mouth, and then suddenly the lights went out.

“What the--um sorry guys, not really sure what that is. Hopefully, they’ll be back in a second,” Kol said, looking up at the ceiling.

The lights did not turn back on.

Kol cleared his throat a little awkwardly.

“Well, okay, I guess you’ll have to audition without the lighting.”

Penelope could barely see Josie, but she could tell that she was definitely considering running off stage and hiding in a cupboard until the end of time. And Penelope could not let that happen. 

She didn’t even know what she was doing, until suddenly, she was standing up, reaching into her pocket, and pulling out her phone. She slid her finger across the screen, and turned on the flashlight app, lifting it to light up Josie.

Josie’s eyes widened and she stared at Penelope, mouth open for a moment.

Penelope just nodded and mouthed,

“You can do this.”

For a moment, she thought that Josie was still going to panic. But then something in her gaze softened, and she turned away.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jade standing up and lighting up her phone as well. She considered it a personal victory when Josie didn’t even pay her any attention. She just started singing. 

“Living in my own world, didn’t understand, that anything can happen when you take a chance,” Josie sang, and Penelope felt her heart fill up with love.

Josie literally sounded like an angel. 

As Josie continued singing, Penelope could see her slipping into her comfort zone, probably imagining herself on a stage, staring out at thousands of people, like she’d told Penelope she always did when she sang for people. 

She had a small smile of confidence on her face, and there was a light in her eyes that Penelope had truly missed. This was what Josie deserved. Getting to stand on a stage and be appreciated. 

Penelope quickly cast her gaze around the others in the room. They all looked awestruck by Josie’s voice, even Kol looked entranced. Penelope smiled. Josie was probably closer to her dreams coming true than she even realized.

Penelope was so caught up that she barely realized that Josie had finished, so she quickly turned off her light and started applauding with everyone else. 

It was at this moment that the lights chose to come back on. Kol laughed.

“Well, that was oddly theatrical of the lights, but I suppose that is to be expected, given what we’re currently doing.” A few students laughed at his statement, and Penelope didn’t even try to hide her smile.

She looked back at Josie, who was now glaring at her. It was to be expected, Penelope supposed. This one act of good didn’t make up for all the bad. Penelope just nodded at her and walked back over to Hope and Landon.

“What was that?” Hope hissed.

Penelope shrugged.

“It felt right.”

Landon grinned at her, bumping their shoulders together.

“Penelope was a regular knight in shining armor, that’s what happened.” He held up his hand and Penelope took the fist bump that he offered.

Hope just sighed and shook her head.

“This is going to be a long year.”

Kol stood up and started talking.

“Alright, so we have the Troy auditions now!” He told them the order, and Penelope smiled when she realized that she was last. Some people didn’t like going last, as they wanted to make a good first impression and set the bar high. Penelope liked being last, because it meant that she could completely blow every other attempt out of the water.

Throughout the Troy auditions, Penelope tried not to notice the little glances that Josie kept throwing her. It was probably the best idea, as Josie would just get upset if Penelope acknowledged it. 

It was easier to focus on the absolutely terrible auditions for Troy. It was just mediocre white boy after mediocre white boy. The only boy who had any talent was Rafael. Penelope didn’t have anything against the guy, and she could admit that he wouldn’t make a half bad Troy. She just knew that she could do better.

Soon enough, everyone else was done, and it was Penelope’s turn. Kol turned to her.

“Right, Miss Park, you’re up.”

“Actually, Mr Mikaelson, I was wondering if it was alright if I sang an original song?” Penelope really enjoyed the way that a single sentence from her could get the entire room whispering to each other. And it could also get Hope rubbing her temples like Penelope was going to be the reason for her hair going grey early.

He grinned at her.

“Well, I’d love to see it, go ahead.”

She picked up her guitar and pulled the strap around her neck. 

She played the first few notes, and watched Josie as she did so. Josie immediately reacted, and Penelope actually saw her muttering, ‘she’s not really about to do this’.

Penelope hated to disappoint Josie, but she was totally doing this. She was going to sing the song that Josie had proclaimed her love with. With her own special spin on it after all. She didn’t want to steal Josie’s song. This was more of a collaboration.

Even if Josie was definitely going to kill her. But hey, Penelope liked making a statement.

Well, here went nothing.

“So much has happened, think of what we’ve done in the time that the Earth has travelled around the sun,” Penelope began singing, her hands playing the notes and chords like she’d been playing them all her life.

Even if it was only the past few months. Still, Penelope had watched the video of Josie singing nearly every day until she archived it. 

And well, she’d written her own verse, and figured out how to play it on the guitar. She didn’t know at the time she would ever play it for Josie, but when the opportunity had come, Penelope just had to take it.

She watched the anger slowly fade from Josie’s face, replaced with a soft nostalgic smile. Penelope wondered which memory she was losing herself in as Penelope sang.

She grinned at the looks on the faces of those in the crowd. Hope and Landon both looked impressed, along with Kol. Did Jade and Lizzie both look like they wanted to tear Penelope limb from limb? Yes, but somehow, that made it even better.

As she approached the bridge, she felt a bubble of fear form in her chest.

This was the bit where she basically declared that she loved Josie. And was she ready for that? No. 

“I guess I’m saying I…don’t not love you,” Penelope’s voice broke, just a little bit on the word love, and for the first time in the performance, she felt uncertain. 

When she looked back at Josie, she saw that her smile had drifted away, and had been replaced by an expression of disappointment.

Fuck.

Penelope finished off and bowed slightly as the students applauded. She knew she had been better than the rest of the students, and was practically bound to get the role, but she still felt bad. That look on Josie’s face had hurt more than expected.

She looked over at Hope, who just shook her head.

“You’re something else Penelope.”

“Don’t go flirting with me Mikaelson, I hate to break it to you, but you’re not my type.”

Hope rolled her eyes.

“You wish.” 

Kol’s voice shut them up, but Penelope still caught the little smile that Hope had. As much as her friend may pretend to be annoyed by Penelope’s general existence, she knew that Hope would still stand by her. These past few months proved that, even if it had been more of an extreme situation.

The rest of the auditions seemed to fly past. Jade, Penelope hated to admit, had talent, and would probably get Sharpay easily. Hope was fantastic, and Penelope made sure that she was the one clapping the loudest for her.

She also made sure to remember to tell Hope later that Lizzie had been staring at her like she’d seen a goddess the whole damn performance.

Eventually, they wrapped up. Kol stood.

“Alright, kids. I believe in efficiency, and in following one’s gut, so, the cast list will be up tomorrow, at lunch. I can’t wait to see all of you in rehearsals!”

+++

Penelope wanted to stop off in the bathroom before she got a ride back with Hope, so she did. If she had known what was coming, she probably would have waited until she got to Hope’s place.

But she didn’t have the gift of foresight, so she went to the bathroom. And, as she was washing her hands, Josie Forbes-Laughlin threw the door open and stormed in.

“What the hell was that?”

“You’re going to need to be more specific Jojo, I’ve done many things since we last talked.” Penelope noted the way that Josie flinched at the nickname, and mentally filed that knowledge away for future use. Whether that meant aggravating Josie, or making sure that she didn’t hurt her further, Penelope wasn’t yet sure. 

“You know what I mean.”

Penelope pushed herself up onto the counter.

“Actually, I don’t. Would you mind filling me in?” Playing this game with Josie was a dangerous move, but Penelope loved danger. And maybe she was just pathetic enough that she considered any attention from Josie as valuable.

“You show up at rehearsals, you audition for the love interest of the character that I’m auditioning for, you pull whatever that was with the phone light, and then you sing that song. How about we start with you explaining that?” Josie said, moving forwards. Penelope noted that if she was to push herself off the counter, they’d practically be nose to nose.

She sighed.

“Well, let me see. Me showing up at rehearsals, that’s not exactly uncommon, everyone knows I’m a drama kid. Me auditioning for Troy was a strategic move. Barely any of the boys at this school have anything resembling talent, so it’s a shoe in that I’ll get him. Him being the love interest, well, maybe that’s an added bonus.”

“You can’t say that. I’m not your stupid prize.” 

Penelope nodded.

“You’re right. You’re not a prize. You’re the best damn singer and actress that I know. Why wouldn’t I want to play alongside you?” Penelope grinned when Josie was unable to answer. 

“Okay, now the phone light thing. For starters, it worked, and don’t try telling me that it didn’t, because I know that if I hadn’t done it, you wouldn’t have auditioned. And let’s not forget that your darling girlfriend did it too, so yeah. As for the song, it’s a good song. Why wouldn’t I want to sing it?”

Josie huffed.

“Well, I’m sorry that I didn’t know you liked it. ‘Oh’, isn’t exactly a reaction that tells me much.” 

Penelope winced slightly. She’d known that playing this game would end in them talking about their past, but it still hurt. She didn’t exactly like being reminded of past mistakes.   
Josie laughed harshly.

“You don’t get to do what you did, you don’t get to break my heart, and then show up now, acting like you can just be all charming and confuse things for me.”

“I wasn’t trying to confuse things, and you know it.”

“Do I? Since when have I ever known anything about you? I didn’t even know that you thought I was a good singer until a few seconds ago when you said it.”

Penelope shook her head. That was a definite lie. She remembered telling Josie countless times, complimenting her on anything and everything. 

“Josie, you know that I have always thought the world of you. You know that I have always believed in you. Even though I made some bad decisions, I always believed in you.”

Josie shook her head.

“You can’t just say that and expect things to be okay. You can’t just wave away what you did by saying it was a bad decision. You can’t act like the summer didn’t happen and just pull me back into last year. That’s not how this works.”

Penelope pushed herself off the counter and found that she had been right. Her and Josie were so close that Penelope could tell exactly what brand of lipstick she was wearing. 

And she still remembered exactly how it would taste. 

“Then tell me how it works. Because I saw the way you were looking at me. I saw the little glances you kept giving me.”

Josie stepped back and Penelope almost frowned at the distance.

“I hate you.”

“Do you?”

Josie opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Penelope waited for her to say something, anything.

But she didn’t.

The door swung open, and Jade stepped in. She looked at Josie and Penelope’s positions, and immediately fell into the protective girlfriend stance. Penelope almost wanted to laugh.

“What’s going on in here?” She asked, glaring at Penelope.

Josie looked at Jade.

“Nothing, I was just leaving.” She didn’t look at Penelope once as she shoved past Jade to leave.

Jade looked at Penelope and stepped forwards. Penelope actually rolled her eyes. Great, the ‘stay away from my girlfriend speech’.

“Look, I don’t know you and Josie’s history, but I know that she doesn’t like you. So, stay the hell away from her.”

Penelope sighed.

“You try telling her that. I was just minding my business in here. She’s the one who found me.” Penelope didn’t mean to throw Josie under the bus but well, it wasn’t exactly like she was lying. 

She pushed past Jade and walked out of the bathroom.

Hope met her gaze with a raised eyebrow.

Penelope shook her head.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Hope nodded.

“Cool. I’m picking the music on the drive home, otherwise we’ll be stuck listening to your stupid breakup music.”

Penelope rolled her eyes, watching as Jade walked out of the bathroom and presumably after Josie.

“Fine, but no Taylor Swift.”

“She’s iconic and you know it. Don’t think I haven’t seen you listening to reputation on repeat.”

Penelope just rolled her eyes and followed Hope out, thoughts of Josie swirling through her head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I'll be honest with you, it's going to take just a little bit more time before Josie stops being mad at Penelope. At least they did share a small moment?  
> Next chapter we'll have Penelope's POV again, and we'll have some more flashbacks, so be excited for that! Also, if you haven't watched the show, the song that Penelope sang to Josie in this chapter is I Think I Kinda You Know, and it's really cute!   
> I'll see all of you very soon, until then, stay hydrated and live the best life you can whilst you're in quarantine!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am back with another round of High School Posie shenanigans! As mentioned last time, this is Penelope's POV, and while there isn't any Posie in this chapter, we do get to see a lot more of Hope and Penelope's friendship, and also, the reasons why Penelope broke up with Josie!  
> Enjoy!

The car trip wasn’t quiet for long. Penelope would have loved to just sit in silence and enjoy the Harry Styles that Hope had put on, but unfortunately, Hope had other plans.

“Okay, I have so many questions. First of all, are you actually stupid?”

Penelope sighed.

“Be specific. Which instance over the past hour are you talking about?”

Hope rolled her eyes.

“Let’s start with auditioning for Troy. How did you even know that Kol would let you?”

Penelope shrugged.

“I asked Kaleb if a girl could audition for a male role. He said yes. So, I committed to the plan.”

“So, you just thought it would be a good idea to audition for the love interest of the role your ex wanted?”

“Yeah, I did actually.”

Hope looked like she wanted to veer the car straight off the road and into a passing tree, but thankfully, she just started out the front window for a moment. She sighed again.

“Why did you do it?”

Penelope let the sarcastic smile slide off of her face.

“Being Troy was the best way I could think of to help Josie flourish.”

Hope shook her head.

“It’s just us Pen. I’m not going to judge you for being selfish. I never have, so it’s okay.”

Penelope sighed and looked out the window. 

“Okay, while my reason is still true, and I do want a chance to help Josie, I also want an excuse to be near her. And maybe an excuse to talk to her, and a place to put my feelings for her. Because I can just blame my heart eyes on good acting, and no one will question it.”

“Jade will. Josie will. Lizzie probably will too. You know that they’re all gonna kick your ass.”

“They can try. But they all also know that I’d be the best for the role. Just like Josie is the best Gabriella.”

Hope scoffed.

“You didn’t even see the other auditions.”

“Are you gonna tell me that I’m wrong?”

Hope laughed.

“Of course not. She was the best. I’m just pointing out how horrifically whipped you are for the girl who is supposed to be your ex.”

Penelope looked back at Hope.

“You know she’s never gonna be just my ex, right?”

Hope sighed, eyes leaving the road for a moment to look at Penelope.

“I know. I just don’t want you getting hurt.”

Penelope shrugged and leaned back against her seat.

“Who says I haven’t been already?

+++

They didn’t speak for the rest of the car ride. When Penelope entered Hope’s house, she was immediately met with an enthusiastic greeting from Freya, who was balancing baby Henry on her hip. 

Penelope knew that when that baby was born, there was a great argument between Elijah and Klaus about who would get it named after them. Freya chose the smart path, and named him after their younger brother who had died when he was a kid. Then she put his middle name as Jack, after a family friend who had died a while back. 

Penelope remembered meeting Henry for the first time with Josie and Lizzie. He’d loved Josie the most out of the three of them, and even preferred him over Hope. Absolutely no one was surprised, because of course the baby would love Josie.

It had been before Penelope and Josie had started dating and Penelope remembered how hard it had been to keep her heart eyes to herself. 

And now she was thinking about Josie, so she gave Hope a look, and Hope told Freya something about how they just wanted to chill out and de-stress from the auditions.

Freya just laughed.

“Right. I bet Kol had a lot of fun with you lot. I can’t wait to see how the musical turns out.”

They nodded at her, and then all but sprinted down to Hope’s basement. Hope’s house was basically a mansion, and Hope could spend time anywhere she wanted, but she chose the basement, so now everyone in the house knew that if they ever wanted Hope, they could find her down there.

All their friends had specific pieces of furniture that they used whenever they hung out at Hope’s. Landon had a green bean bag and Kaleb had the black chair that Hope stole from her Uncle Elijah.

Penelope looked over at the yellow bean bag that Josie always used. Funnily enough, it was right next to her white chair, the one that used to belong to Rebecca, but Hope moved downstairs because Penelope found it comfortable.

She pulled it out and sat on it, picking up a pillow from the floor to squeeze. Hope sat in her cushioned wheelie chair, the one that she only used if Lizzie wasn’t there. If Lizzie was there, they’d share the sofa. No one told Lizzie about that specific detail.

Hope sighed.

“What happened in the bathroom?”

Penelope shrugged.

“Your usual fight between exes. She questioned every move I made when I walked into that drama room, just like you did, and then we just started fighting about how I wasn’t allowed to do any of it. Then Jade came in and tried to pull some alpha wolf act.”

Hope shook her head.

“To be fair, you pissed her off in rehearsals today. That song you sang, well, I don’t know if she knows the real story about it, but it was definitely a love song that was directed to Josie.” She frowned for a moment. “How the hell did you learn it, by the way? Didn’t Josie archive it halfway through the summer?”

Penelope nodded.

“Yep. I just watched it every day before then, and I also wrote my own verse before then. Today was just a good opportunity to finally use it.”

Hope actually laughed at that, so hard that she nearly started choking. Penelope just waited for her friend to calm down.

“Sometimes I think I’ve figured out just how whipped you are for Josie, and then you go and prove me so very wrong.”

Penelope shrugged.

“I didn’t have much else to do over the summer.”

Hope face fell, probably as she thought of her heartbroken summer as well.

“Yeah, that’s true.”

Penelope sighed, and forced a grin onto her face. She might as well attempt to make this hangout less sad.

“Did you notice that Lizzie couldn’t stop staring at you during your audition?”

Hope looked at Penelope with just a hint of excitement in her eyes.

“Wait, really?”

Penelope laughed and nodded.

“She was staring at you like you were the answer to all her problems.”

Hope smiled dreamily for a moment, probably imagining what it would be like for Lizzie to look at her like that every day. Then the smile slipped away.

“Well, it would be nice if she could even look at me in public. Josie too. It sucks losing two of your best friends in one swoop.”

Penelope sighed. Well, they were talking about this it seemed.

“I really am sorry about that Hope. If I had known-”

“No, Pen, don’t. We've been over this. You messed up with a few things, but telling me the truth was not one. And you weren’t the one who started the fight with Josie. And you weren’t the one who asked Lizzie…well, it’s my own fault, really.”

Penelope cast her mind back to those two conversations she had had with Hope, the two conversations that had basically helped wreck Hope’s friendships with the twins.

The first conversation had occurred the day after Penelope had broken up with Josie. She had previously planned on not telling any of her friends about her true reasoning, but then, after a panic attack and a night of no sleep, she realized that maybe the power of friendship might be helpful.

So, she called Hope. 

Hope, who had already heard what had happened.

\---  
 __

_“Are you absolutely out of your goddamn mind?” Hope yelled as she stormed into Penelope’s room._

_Penelope sighed._

_“Yeah, probably.”_

_Hope paced back and forth, not yet noticing the state that Penelope was in._

_“You have done a lot of dumb things in your life, but breaking up with Josie Forbes-Laughlin has to be the dumbest thing you’ve ever done. Who cares if you don’t love her right now, we all know that you will, so why would you end it over that?”_

_Penelope didn’t say anything. She just stared at the floor, waiting for Hope’s rant to end._

_“Josie is heartbroken, according to Lizzie, she hasn’t left her room yet, and I’ve checked her Spotify, she’s been listening to exclusively heartbreak songs, so I’m really gonna need a—wait are you okay?” Hope finally looked down at Penelope and saw her disheveled appearance, the redness in her eyes and the bags under them, as well as the way her shoulders were slumped as if she was a puppet that had had its strings cut._

_“Pen, seriously, what, why, I…” she finished lamely, staring at Penelope, unsure of what to do._

_Penelope shook her head._

_“I had to break up with her. And no, it wasn’t because of the reason I told her. I just knew those were the easiest words to say, that they were the only ones that she would accept.”_

_Hope frowned._

_“What do you mean, you had to?”_

_Penelope sighed._

_“Hope, we’ve been falling apart. I can’t tell you how many dates have been cancelled recently, all because Lizzie has been taking up so much of her time. They’ve always been co-dependent, we all know it, but recently, it’s been on this whole other level.”_

_Hope frowned. Penelope knew that Hope knew she was right, even if she didn’t want to admit it._

_“So, what, you broke up just because Lizzie took up too much time? That can’t be the only reason.”_

_“It isn’t,” Penelope whispered brokenly. Hope just waited for her to continue._

_“These last few weeks, Josie’s been struggling with exams and everything, but she won’t accept any help. She won’t admit that she’s struggling, and it hurts so much to see her thinking that she’s the only one who can help herself. And I’ve tried so hard to get her to open up, and she just won’t.” She shook her head. Hope opened her mouth to speak, but Penelope was on a roll._

_“And I’ve always known that Lizzie would be her number one priority, but seeing her placing every single person, every single thing, over her own well-being hurts. But that’s not all. I know that she wants me to talk to her, and to open up about my issues, but I just can’t. I’ve got some issues Hope, you know this, what with my parents and all their stupid expectations. And I can’t burden her with all of my stuff. Especially when it seems like she doesn’t even care in the first place.”_

_Hope walked over to Penelope’s bed and sat next to her, placing a gentle hand on her knee._

_“What do you mean, of course Josie cares. She just told you that she loves you.”_

_Penelope shook her head._

_“If she cares, then why am I always the one to text first? Why am I the one always setting up dates? Why is it that when Lizzie starts pushing too hard and saying things that they both know hurt me, Josie doesn’t stop her?”_

_Hope sighed. Penelope rubbed a hand over her face._

_“I’ve been dealing with all of this for a while, and I thought maybe I could do it, but then she told me that she loves me, and I couldn’t say it back. I tried, but it felt like my throat was closing up on me. I got home and almost immediately spiraled into a panic attack. I knew I had issues, but this is another level, and I can’t make Josie deal with that. I can’t let her love someone that never learned how to be loved.”_

_Hope shook her head._

_“Penelope, she wouldn’t mind.”_

_“I know. That’s the problem, that’s the main problem. I could go to her about anything, I could tell her all my issues, and she would listen. But then she’d put everything that’s she’s dealing with on hold and she’d basically break herself if she thought that it would help. I can’t let her do that. She doesn’t need a girlfriend, she needs time, and the energy to put her needs first.”_

_For a moment, they were silent. Hope thought everything over, and Penelope waited. Waited for Hope to stand up and walk out, to leave her alone, or to tell her that she was a terrible person._

_But then Hope spoke._

_“You’re right. I hate it, but you’re right. And maybe I don’t agree with you breaking up with her and lying about why, but I know that you shouldn’t be with her right now. If not for her sake but for yours. Pen, you’re tearing yourself apart to make her happy, maybe a break would be good.”_

_Penelope nodded._

_“I still care about her. Even though I can’t say it, I can’t say those three fucking stupid words, I feel them, I know that I do.”_

_Hope sighed and pulled Penelope’s head over so that it rested on her shoulder. Penelope started crying, and Hope stayed._

_Hope stayed and waited as Penelope fell apart. And even though Penelope didn’t know it at the time, Hope was promising herself right then that no matter what, she wouldn’t let anyone treat Penelope like the villain of this story.  
_  
\---

Penelope sighed and Hope laughed.

“You literally just vagued out for a whole minute there. I’ve been trying to talk to you. Where’d you go? And please don’t say you were thinking about you and Josie.”

Penelope rolled her eyes, reaching out her foot to kick at Hope’s leg, but she was too far away, and missed horribly. Hope snorted.

“You’re a child.”

“You’re gay.”

“I’m bi, and you have terrible comebacks.”

“I have great comebacks, I’m just all tired out from the emotionally exhausting afternoon that I’ve had.” 

Penelope saw Hope consider taking that comment seriously for a moment, and then she rolled her eyes.

“I’m not letting you use that excuse. Now, tell me why you were vaguing out.”

Penelope sighed, sensing that this was going to be an argument that would either devolve into stupidity, or she could be sensible. As much as she loved fighting with Hope for the hell of it, she decided that maybe they needed to talk about this.

“I was thinking about the day I told you my reasons for breaking up with Josie.”

Hope nodded, understanding in her eyes.

“Ah. I remember that day. I hated seeing you look so sad.”

Penelope shrugged.

“I’m better now. I may still be sad, and pissed off that Josie moved on so quick, but I’m fine.”

Hope rolled her eyes.

“Ignoring the fact that you clearly aren't fine, it's worth noting that we both know that she’s using Jade as a rebound. She said she loved you, you can’t just move on from that so quickly.”

Penelope just sighed. 

“I know. It still hurts like hell, especially because I have to keep playing the part that I chose. It’s so annoying, because everyone thinks that I’m the bad guy, and I’m not going to argue with that, but I do everything I do for her, because I want her to be happy. So, I can’t be stupid and jealous and possessive, because if Jade makes Josie happy, then I have to accept it.”

Hope rolled her eyes.

“It’s times like these that I remember why I took your side.”

Penelope grinned, and her mind drifted to the second conversation.

\---  
 __

_“Penelope, I think I fucked up really badly.”_

_“Okay, where’s the body and how many are there?”_

_Hope frowned, stopping mid pace to glare at Penelope._

_“Why do you immediately assume murder?”_

_“Because fucking up really badly equals murder?”_

_“I didn’t kill anyone,” Hope nearly yelled, her voice breaking, just a little. Penelope started getting actually worried._

_“You didn’t get pregnant or something?”_

_Hope actually laughed at that one._

_“I’m flattered that you think I’m getting enough action from the boys to get pregnant, but no. It’s about Josie and Lizzie.”_

_Penelope stood up._

_“Is Josie okay?”_

_Hope rolled her eyes._

_“You’re so one track minded that it’s unbelievable.”_

_“Hope, focus.”_

_“Josie’s fine. Well, actually, no, I sort of yelled at her,” Hope said, wincing at the end._

_Penelope threw up her hands._

_“Hope!”_

_“Calm down, I was defending you.”_

_“You were what?”_

_Hope sighed._

_“You might want to sit down for this.”_

_Penelope did in fact sit down, and Hope explained both of her arguments with the Forbes-Laughlin twins. At the end, Penelope ran her hands over her face._

_“This is all my fault; I shouldn’t have brought you into this.”_

_“Hey, no, don’t say that. You needed someone on your side, and besides, Josie and Lizzie said some shitty stuff to me as well. It’s not all about you. I think these fights might’ve been a long time coming. Especially with Lizzie.” She leaned her head on Penelope’s shoulder._

_“I’m really sorry about Josie, by the way. I know you really care about her, and I know it must really hurt to have her hate you, and to not be with her.”_

_Penelope sniffled._

_“I miss her so much already. I can’t stop myself looking at pictures of her. I regret it, but I also know that this is the best move for both of us.”_

_“It’s going to be okay. You’re Josie and Penelope. You’ll find your way back to each other.” When Penelope didn’t react, Hope poked her shoulder with a grin. “You’re endgame.”_

_Penelope rolled her eyes and shoved Hope off of her shoulder._

_“Shut up. I should have stopped you watching all those Riverdale crack videos at three in the morning,” Penelope retorted, but she had to admit that Hope had made her smile._

_“Thank you for standing up to me to the twins. I know that must have been hard.”_

_Hope shrugged._

_“You’re my best friend. And we’ll fix this.”  
_

\---

Penelope laughed.

“You said that we’d fix things, but it seems like everything it so far from being fixed.”

Hope shrugged.

“Give it time. The year has barely started. A good start would be not riling Josie up every time that you see her. When you two end up as love interests in the play, do not fuck it up. That could be your chance back to her heart.”

Penelope laughed, but in her heart, she knew the truth. Josie would never give her another chance. Not after Penelope had broken her heart like that, especially since Penelope had promised that she wouldn’t. 

She nodded though, because she knew that Hope wanted her to be positive. It was their way of fighting everything that Penelope’s mother had instilled in her.

“Okay. And when Lizzie does your makeup, be cool. You guys just need to stop being idiots, apologize to each other, and then bam, you’ll be making out in the back seat of her car.”

Hope blushed, looking away.

“That’s not going to happen.”

“Right, you’ll be fucking in the back seat of her car. My mistake.”

Hope launched a pillow at Penelope and Penelope laughed as she dodged it.

The afternoon ended with the two of them taking each other’s minds off of the twins with a serious of bad jokes and dramatic dance routines to One Direction songs, and they found solace in the knowledge that even if things weren’t alright, they’d be by each other’s side.

+++

Penelope was in fear of the cast list for all of Friday.

She didn’t know what she’d do if something went wrong.

If she wasn’t cast for Troy, then not only would she have to deal with Josie’s real relationship, but she’d also have to deal with her fake one, and Penelope honestly didn’t know if she had the mental energy for that right now.

On the other hand, what if Josie didn’t get cast as Gabriella? Penelope honestly didn’t want to even pretend that she cared about someone who didn’t have soft pouty lips and brown hair that always felt so nice when Penelope ran her fingers through it, and those eyes that Penelope could quite honestly get lost in, and her-

Okay Penelope was getting off topic but the point was, if things didn’t turn out the way she had planned, she might have to follow Landon’s advice and go book herself in for a session with Emma.

Landon told her that talking to a professional helped, but honestly Penelope didn’t think there was a single chance that anyone could be getting paid enough to listen to all of Penelope’s bullshit. 

Basically, Penelope spent most of the day growing slowly more and more anxious, whilst having to maintain her ‘everything is fine and I’m so cool’ persona. 

Honestly, the amount of people in this school who were actually scared of her, or actually thought she was cool, was way too high. To be fair, she knew a lot of gossip that could end entire friendship groups, and she dressed better than 90% of the school, but as Hope and Landon kept reminding her, she was a fucking disaster.

But she just needed to keep the fake persona going. It was the only way she could keep some semblance of control in her life. Especially with all the shit that was currently going on.

Suffice to say, lunch came all too quickly. She walked down to the drama department, flanked by Hope and Landon, because Kaleb had been helping Kol out with sets or something today. 

They’d all tried to get him to give them any clues as to the casting, but he refused, claiming that friendship did not trump the sanctity of drama. Penelope loved him, but he was definitely the most over-dramatic of the group. And that was saying something, considering her recent antics. 

There was already a crowd milling when they got there. Lizzie, Josie, and Jade were already there, and they looked over at Penelope when they entered. She saw the look of pure hatred on Jade and Lizzie’s faces, and the look that Penelope couldn’t quite describe on Josie’s face, and she already knew what that list said.

But she checked anyways.

**HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL CAST LIST 2020**

_Gabriella Montez: Josette Forbes-Laughlin_

_Gabriella Understudy: Maya Machado_

_Troy Bolton: Penelope Park_

_Troy Understudy: Rafael Waithe_

_Taylor McKessie: Maya Machado_

_Chad Danforth: Rafael Waithe_

_Sharpay Evans: Jade Caswell_

_Ryan Evans: Ethan Machado_

_Ms Darbus: Hope Mikaelson_

_Kelsi Nielsen: Wendy Jane_

_Makeup: Elizabeth Forbes-Laughlin_

_Lighting: Landon Kirby_

_Costumes: Alyssa Chang_

_Student Director: Kaleb Hawkins_

_Stage Manager: Milton Greasley_

Penelope looked over at Josie. Josie held her gaze, and Penelope knew for certain that this musical would be one that none of them would ever forget.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you ever forget that Hope and Penelope weren't canonically friends in the show? Because I do. Another thing that the writers messed up, I guess.  
> So, now you know why Penelope did what she did! Obviously, she didn't handle things as well as she should have, and she will figure that out, but she was just doing what she thought was right. Her and Josie have a while to go before they're going to get to a stage where they can be together again, but mark my words, it will happen!   
> Next chapter is the read through, and it's going to be...interesting.   
> I'll see you soon!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I'm back! I'm sorry for taking so long with this update, but I have been absolutely crushed by schoolwork recently, and i haven't had the time to write. But, I've got an update now, so, yay for me!  
> Enjoy!

Josie was going to kill Penelope Park. She wasn’t kidding. As she looked into Penelope’s eyes in front of that cast sheet, all she could think about were the many different ways that she could probably commit murder and get away with it. Arson was very high on the list. 

And then her thoughts drifted, and suddenly she was thinking about all the other things she could be doing with Penelope, and she had to look away, otherwise Penelope would definitely be able to tell what thoughts had just polluted Josie’s mind. 

Honestly, Josie was sure that Penelope had some sort of mind reading device, because there was no way that she could actually just know what Josie was thinking and feeling at all times.

Josie had known since the moment Penelope said the words ‘I wanted to try out for Troy’, that Penelope was going to get the role. She loved Rafael, but she knew that Penelope just had this energy around her that made every drama teacher fall in love.

Josie knew that she’d be perfect for the role. The problem was that Josie didn’t want to have a fake relationship with her ex, at the same time as her trying to get over her. Would it be great to sing duets with Penelope onstage? Yes. Would they work together perfectly, and have undeniable chemistry? Yes. Would Penelope look super fucking hot as Troy? Yes.

Where was Josie going with that train of thought?

Oh, right.

All of that would be great, but the fact remained that her and Penelope were exes. And Penelope broke her heart. 

Penelope seemed to have forgotten that though, what with the phone light thing, and singing the song that Josie wrote to confess her feelings.

It was worth noting that Penelope still knew the best way to make Josie feel comfortable. One look and a nod, and suddenly Josie could find her voice. Somehow, Jade clambering to her feet to do the exact same thing a few moments later didn’t do anything.

Josie had killed her audition. She didn’t know if it was the best out of all of them, but it was damn good. She’d sung the song perfectly, and she’d been able to imagine herself on a stage, singing it to an entire audience.

It had seemed like things would be going well for her. And then Penelope auditioned. Josie’s first thought was ‘why does the universe hate me?’. Her second thought was ‘when the hell did Penelope manage to learn this? And add another verse?’.

It was kinda cute, actually. Penelope’s singing voice was so hot, and she nailed the key change. Josie forgot for a moment that she was meant to be hating Penelope, and that she was sitting next to her girlfriend who had confessed her love only minutes ago.

And then Penelope had stumbled, her voice catching on the word love, and Josie remembered. Remembered her heartbreak, remembered that no matter how hot Penelope was, she still hadn’t said it, and she still wasn’t going to. 

Josie hated herself for being disappointed. And she hated herself for going after Penelope in the bathroom. It was so stupid, asking for an explanation that there was no way she was going to get. Penelope just did what she always did, changed it into a game, wore that little smirk on her face, and pretended like she didn’t feel anything.

Josie hated nothing more than this version of Penelope. Because she fell in love with the Penelope she’d grown up with, the one who’d picked flowers for her, who’d cried at Netflix movies, and treated Josie like a queen. She fell in love with the real Penelope, not the one she liked to pretend to be. Not the one who manipulated situations and planned things out so that she could be the winner no matter what.

So, she kept the fight going, getting angry, and she knew that she was repeating questions, knew that Penelope wouldn’t answer, but this was all she had left of Penelope, and she just needed something. And yeah, maybe she lied about not knowing if Penelope thought anything about her. Penelope had practically showered her with compliments when they were together. Even before then, Penelope had made it clear that she thought Josie was amazing. 

Josie just wanted to hear Penelope show that she still cared, just a little bit. 

She told Penelope she hated her, because she really wanted to, knew that hating Penelope would make this so much easier, but Penelope saw right through her. Josie didn’t know what she would have done if Jade hadn’t come in. But, she did, and so Josie left.

Jade asked her why she went after Penelope, and Josie came up with something about how she just wanted to yell at Penelope for what she did. Jade took that answer pretty easily, but asked Josie to stay away, and told her that she didn’t trust Penelope.

Josie agreed, even if she knew that she’d be falling back into Penelope’s orbit soon enough. 

There was just something between the two of them, something between them that had pulled them together no matter what. Even when they’d fought as kids, they’d always come back to each other.

This was just a big fight, although it was one that had changed things in a way that Josie couldn’t explain. But there was still that pull and she couldn’t fight it. 

Josie hated herself just a little for it.

She had this amazing and perfect girlfriend, who actually loved her, and she was still hung up on her emotionally unavailable ex. 

How stupid could you get?

And so, now she was standing there, in front of the cast list, which might as well be a declaration that Josie was a dead girl walking, and Penelope was just staring at her. 

Josie had looked away by now, because if she kept looking into Penelope’s eyes, with all these stupidly big and loud emotions inside of her, she’d do something stupid like kissing her. And considering that they were in front of a small crowd that included, but was not limited to, her current girlfriend, her sister who hated Penelope, and her ex-friend who she’d literally gotten into a fight with, over Penelope, that would be a terrible decision.

So, she just walked away. Jade followed after her, calling out her name gently, but Josie didn’t answer. She just waited until they were somewhere far enough away that there was no audience anymore, and then she turned around.

“Josie, hey, are you okay?” Jade asked, reaching out and taking Josie’s hand. Josie sighed.

“I just found out that my ex is now my fake love interest. I’m just peachy.”

“I can kick her ass if you want,” Jade suggested, a small grin at the corner of her mouth letting Josie know that she just wanted Josie to smile.

So, she did.

“Thanks, but no. I don’t want you getting suspended for defending my honor.”

“It would be my pleasure to get suspended defending your honor. And that offer is on the table at any time that you need it.”

Josie laughed.

“Thanks.” Her smile fell away, and so Jade took her other hand.

“What can I do to make it better?”

Josie stepped forwards, nestling her head into Jade’s neck.

“Just, stay here. Hold me. Until the bell rings and we have to go to Maths, and then you can hold my hand under the table.”

Jade nodded and kissed the top of Josie’s head.

“Alright Jose, if that’s what you need.”

Josie felt content. She felt safe in Jade’s arms. 

And maybe that was what she needed right now.

+++

The first read through was the next Monday. So, Josie spent the entire weekend stressing out over how that was going to go down. Lizzie spent the entire weekend fuming about Penelope and her ‘devilish plans to make my sister miserable’. Josie sort of just let Lizzie be mad about it. Josie knew that she just needed a distraction from thinking about Hope.  
Jade told her that it would be fine, that she’d be there the whole time, and that she’d protect her. Josie thought it was sweet that Jade cared so much. Even if it was very obvious that Jade was jealous. 

Josie had wanted to tell Jade that there was nothing to worry about, that Penelope was just her evil ex, and she couldn’t compare to Jade, but she didn’t want to lie to Jade. Jade deserved better than that, so she just said nothing, and tried to comfort Jade in other ways than saying the words. The words that were just sitting between them now.

Josie thought it was so stupid that she couldn’t say them. She wondered for a moment if that was how Penelope felt, but that broke her heart even more, so, she just didn’t.

Monday came, and Josie made it through the day. She joked around with MG, who was excited to be their stage manager. Rafael had gotten over not getting Troy, and had decided that he was going to be the best Chad that the world had ever seen. Lizzie was already talking about her ideas for hair and makeup, and how Kol had asked her to help Alyssa with costumes where needed.

And Jade glared at Penelope every time she got the chance.

But, eventually, most of the students faded from the building, and the drama kids walked once more into the drama room. Instead of the chaos that it had been during auditions, there were now a circle of seats and tables with labels on top of them. 

Everyone was excitedly babbling away and Lizzie pulled Josie to the side.

“Jo, is it just me, or is this everything we’ve ever hoped for in a musical?”

Josie grinned and nodded, casting her eyes around the room. It was of course at this time that Hope, Landon, and Penelope walked in. She’d been seeing that trio around the school so much over the past week, and it was just so annoying to her. It felt like the universe didn’t want her to forget what she’d lost.

Lizzie groaned.

“Ugh, I’d hoped that maybe those two devils had actually broken their legs and wouldn’t be attending.”

Josie laughed quietly, not taking her eyes off of Penelope.

“There’s three of them.”

“Well, Landon hasn’t done anything to specifically annoy me in the past three days, so until further notice, he can keep his designated species of human. Hope and Penelope on the other hand, well, their very presence makes me want to throw up.”

Josie wasn’t surprised when she looked over at Lizzie and saw that she was intensely staring at Hope, just like Josie had been staring at Penelope.

Maybe idiocy was in the Forbes-Laughlin genes.

“How are you going to make it through all these rehearsals with her?” Lizzie asked, seemingly genuinely curious.

“I’m planning to not make eye contact.” Josie knew that was definitely a terrible plan, seeing as how they were love interests, but she also knew that Penelope’s eyes were one of her many weaknesses.

Jade walked over to her, and threw an arm around her, kissing her cheek.

“Hey babe, you ready for this?”

Josie took her eyes away from Penelope and smiled up at Jade.

“Always, as long as you’re with me.”

They all heard a door opening and suddenly Kol was running in.

“Sorry kids, I got caught up having a very entertaining discussion with Ms Claire in the staff-room. Everyone, please take your assigned, seats, no switching please!” He stumbled over to his seat, which was labelled **Director**.

Josie looked for her name, and her heart sunk when she realized who she was next to. Hope and Penelope. She might actually consider dying. Then she saw that Penelope was next to Jade, and that Lizzie was also next to Hope, and she thought that Kol knew more about the student’s drama than they all thought.

Either that, or the universe thought itself a comedian of the highest caliber.

But she knew that Kol wasn’t kidding when he said no switching seats was allowed, so Josie just decided to swallow the pill. She sat down and waited. Hope sat next to her, and didn’t even look at her. 

Josie wasn’t really expecting her to do so. She knew that she hurt Hope, and she knew that that hurt would only be solved with a proper apology, not with time. But first, they both need to survive this rehearsal. 

Penelope sat next to her, and the first thing that Josie noticed was that she was wearing that perfume that Josie loved so much. She still had the memory of how Penelope had ended up getting it too. Penelope had practically been ambushed by a salesperson who had sprayed it on her.

Penelope had been very offended, but Josie had loved the smell, and had jokingly told Penelope that she should never wash that side of her neck again. Penelope just stared at her for a moment, and then bought a bottle. She broke it out whenever she wanted to get Josie’s attention, and Josie should really stop going down this particular memory lane, because she remembered very well what happened when Penelope got Josie’s attention.

Josie decided to look straight past Penelope to offer Jade a smile. Jade, who had previously been frowning, smiled back at Josie. Josie almost wanted Penelope to make a comment about PDA or keeping their obnoxious flirting to themselves, but there was nothing. 

Luckily for Josie, she didn’t have time to be sad about that, or to get annoyed at herself for being sad about that, because Kol finally started speaking.

“Welcome all, to the drama room. This place will be your home for the next few months, it shall be the place where we shall breathe life into this play, and create a performance worthy of the best dreams.” He paused for a moment, letting the whole room smile at the idea. “However, to make this vision come true, we must have a few things. First of all, be punctual. We want to make sure that we’re getting all the time we need to perfect this.”

Someone’s phone buzzed and everyone started turning their heads to see who it was. When Rafael turned a little bit red, everyone knew they’d found their culprit.

Kol laughed.

“Thank you, Mr Waithe, for bringing me so well to our next point. In this space, all phones must be on silent, and stowed away. I know how you teenagers get distracted, and distraction does not make for a good play.” 

Rafael awkwardly stood up and put his phone into his bag. The rest of the cast waited, semi-quietly, for him to return, and for Kol to restart his speech.

“Now, while there are many things that I could tell you that we’ll need, I’m sure you will learn all of that in the time to come. For now, there is only one thing that I will tell you that we need, and that is teamwork.” He grinned at them, and Josie was suddenly struck by the resemblance to Hope. It was the exact same grin that Hope wore whenever she was about to do something stupid. 

“Please take the hands on the people sitting next to you, so that we may physically form a bond between each other.”

No.

No way in hell was Josie going to take Penelope’s hand. Hope, well, her and Hope were only friends before, and while it’d be weird, they should be able to hold hands just fine. 

Penelope on the other hand, well, they were not just friends, and Josie did not want to be reminded of every single time they’d held hands whilst dating. And she did not want to feel the absolute betrayal of her nerve endings when they made contact with Penelope.

She could practically hear all the complaints that Lizzie wanted to make, and all the swear words that must be swirling through Jade’s head right now. Josie sighed and held out her hand to Hope. Hope took it and finally, Josie looked to her left.

Penelope was already holding out her hand. There was an almost pleading look in her eyes.

“Come on,” she whispered quiet enough that only Josie would hear it. She wasn’t annoyed, Josie could tell, she was trying to be comforting. As if she was saying, come on, it’s just me. Come on, Jojo, I won’t bite.

Josie slowly inched her hand out and took Penelope’s hand, stopping every bit of muscle memory that wanted to entwine their hands.

“Girls, hands please,” Kol said, and Josie turned to see that he was addressing Jade and Penelope, whose hands were hanging limply by their sides. Josie looked over to her other side to see that Hope and Lizzie were very determinedly staring at the wall opposite them, and not their now entwined hands.

She heard a sigh from Penelope and then a chuckle from Kol, signalling that Jade and Penelope were holding hands. Josie threw another smile Jade’s way, worried that if she didn’t, Jade might break Penelope’s hand.

Kol cleared his throat.

“Close your eyes everyone. Feel the energy passing through each and every one of you. The magic of the theater.” 

Josie did as she was told and tried to cast her mind into thoughts of the play they would put on, and how it would feel to be on stage, not Penelope’s hand and how it was just so soft.

“We’re all in this together,” Kol sang, actually sang, and Josie was a little surprised to hear that he was quite good at singing. And then she felt stupid for being surprised, because of course he was good, he was literally the drama teacher, who was leading their musical.

Josie opened her eyes, just to peak, and saw that a fair few others had opened their eyes too. Some had let go of the hands that they were holding, like Jade and Penelope, unsurprisingly.

Josie took that opportunity to release Penelope’s hand, and then wipe her palm on her jeans. Why did her hand get so sweaty? She also dropped Hope’s hand, and noticed that Lizzie and Hope both had their eyes still closed, and were still holding hands.

The day that those two actually dealt with their problems would honestly be a revolutionary day.

Kol was still singing, and Josie was once again surprised when he hit, and then held, a rather high note. When he finished, Landon started applauding, and then promptly stopped when he realized that no one else was doing that.

Kol grinned at them.

“Did you feel that kids? That was the beginning of something beautiful. The people in this room are going to be your family for the next few months, so, I hope that if there is anything between you, you are able to put it aside for the good of the play.” He didn’t look at them, but Josie knew that he was talking about Jade and Penelope. And possibly Penelope and Josie. Or hell even Hope and Josie, or Hope and Lizzie.

Okay, maybe the five of them had a lot of drama between them, but surely, they could put aside their issues for the play.

Right?

+++

The read through wasn’t half as bad as Josie was expecting. MG read the stage cues fairly well, and the rest of them read their lines as best as could be expected. There were a few little slips ups and times when Josie apparently forgot how to speak English, but it was fine.

When they finished Act One, they took a quick break. Jade immediately got up from her seat and walked over to Josie.

“Well, I have to say, now that we’re reading through it, it doesn’t seem so bad.” She frowned. “Although, I would have liked to sing the songs.”

Josie shrugged.

“There will be plenty of time for that later. And I’m sure Kol just wanted to let us really hear the lyrics.”

Jade grinned.

“I know, but speaking the lyrics doesn’t make these songs sound as half as good as when you sing them.”

Josie blushed, looking down at the table. 

“Stop it.”

“I’m serious Jose. You have a beautiful voice, and we both know it.” 

Josie smiled, and was about to answer, when her phone buzzed. When she pulled it out of her pocket, not without checking to make sure that Kol was occupied with his conversation with Kaleb, she read the name of the person who had texted her.

It was Penelope.

Josie honestly should have blocked and deleted her number, but she could never bring herself to do it. 

This was the first time Penelope had texted her since the breakup, and Josie tilted her phone, just so that Jade couldn’t see that Josie hadn’t got around to changing Penelope’s contact name.

**Pen <3😊: Nice job with the reading. I already know that you’re gonna be the best actress on that stage.**

It was so cute and reminiscent of the old days, when Penelope would somehow sneakily text Josie during class, that Josie couldn’t help but smile, just for a moment.

“Who’s that?” Jade asked, and Josie didn’t miss the suspicion in her voice. And Josie knew that she should just tell her, but she really didn’t want to deal with Jade actually getting into a physical fight with Penelope right here in the drama room.

It would really spoil the read through.

So, she deflected.

“Oh, it’s nothing, don’t worry about it,” she said quickly, slipping the phone back into her pocket. She kissed Jade on the cheek quickly, partly to make Jade feel better, partly to get rid of the old butterflies rising in her stomach.

“I’m gonna go to the bathroom really quick,” Josie told her, and slipped out of the room.

The moment she left the room, Jade lifted her gaze to Penelope, who still had her phone in hand. They made eye contact, and in that moment, Jade knew for certain that her girlfriend had lied. She just didn’t know what to do about it.

+++

The read through was drawing to an end, and Josie had to say, she was pretty pleased with it. The play would be fun to do, she had plenty of lines, and she was a lead. Plus, the rest of the cast was so talented. 

They finished and everyone applauded. Kol grinned at them.

“That was really good you guys. Same time tomorrow afternoon, of course, we’ll be starting with Act One, Scene One, so come ready with scripts. Oh, Josie and Penelope, can you guys please hang back? I wanted to talk to you about something.”

Fuck.

If Kol Mikaelson looked at her and Penelope and asked about their past relationship, Josie might sink into the floor and die. She took back everything that she’d said about the read through being good, this was a nightmare.

Jade looked at her.

“Do you want me to hang back?”

Josie shook her head.

“No, go. I know you and Wendy were gonna hang out after this, so go do that.” 

Jade nodded and quickly kissed Josie. 

Lizzie eyed Josie for a moment.

“Are you sure that you’ll be fine?”

Josie nodded again.

“Yes, Lizzie. I’ll be there as quick as I can, just wait for me, please?”

Lizzie nodded.

“Sure thing. Just don’t spend too much time in Satan’s presence, you might get an infection.”

Everyone else cleared out, and then it was just Josie, Penelope, and Kol left. Kol was fiddling with some documents on his desk, so Josie and Penelope just awkwardly sat on opposite sides of the room, waiting. 

Kol seemed to have somehow already forgotten about them, so Josie cleared her throat.

He looked up and made a little noise.

“Oh, right.” He clapped his hands and beckoned them forwards. They both took one step and stopped. He cleared his throat.

“Right, so, you may be aware that I am planning to make some changes for this play. I always like having new content to make a play extra spicy. However, there is a certain change that I wanted to make, that involves the two of you, and I wanted to know what you thought of it before I implemented it into the play.”

Please let it be that Troy and Gabriella actually hate each other and don’t say a single word to each other the whole play, Josie thought.

“I wanted to add a kiss between Troy and Gabriella at the end of the play.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's going to be a well received idea...  
> Thanks to everyone for waiting that little bit longer for this chapter! Sometimes the real world gets in the way, but I'll always make time to write for this, mostly because it's something that makes me happy! I hope that you guys are enjoying this story, because as I said, I really like writing it! I know the fandom is pretty much dead, especially after the whole 'Legacies Season 3 Being Postponed to 2021' thing, but if you would be so kind, please leave a kudos and/or comment if you enjoyed!   
> I'll see you guys (hopefully) soon!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Again, sorry about the wait, school seems to think that having assignments due every week it a great idea. But, I know how starved we all are for content in this fandom, so here you guys go!  
> Enjoy!

Josie wished that she was drinking something in that moment so that she could do a spit take.

A kiss? Between her and Penelope, on stage, in front of everyone? Yeah, that was a recipe for disaster.

She tried to tell him as much.

“Look, Mr Mikaelson—”

“Please, call me Kol.”

“Okay, Kol, I don’t think a kiss is necessary. I mean, why fix something that isn’t broken? I think the hug at the end is more than enough."

Kol nodded.

“Alright, thank you Josie. Penelope, what do you think?”

Josie mentally begged Penelope to not be annoying for once in her life. Although, Penelope would probably say that it was a brilliant idea, just to piss Josie off. 

“I think that if Josie isn’t comfortable with it, then maybe it isn’t the best idea.”

What? Did Josie actually have secret mind powers? Or was Penelope just choosing to be good for once?

Kol rose an eyebrow.

“Really?”

Penelope nodded, folding her arms.

“What if I said that I thought it was a good idea to push actors out of their comfort zones, get them to do new things?” He asked. 

Josie actually had to hold herself back from making a joke about her kissing Penelope would hardly be something new.

Penelope stared at Kol.

“Well, pushing actors out of their comfort zone is one thing, and I understand that, but if it makes them downright uncomfortable, that’s not okay. Especially for something like this. I’m really big on consent and if Josie doesn’t want me kissing her, then I won’t kiss her.”

Damn Penelope Park and her stupidly charming feminism. Now Josie was thinking about how Penelope had always asked to kiss her if they were in public, or always asked her if she wanted to keep going when they were—

Nope.

Josie was not thinking about that.

What was it with her brain and being stupid and broken around Penelope?

Kol nodded slowly.

“Right. And there’s no other reason that you don’t want to kiss each other?”

Ah, there it was. Josie looked directly at Penelope, trying to tell her ‘this one’s on you’.

Penelope sighed.

“Look, Kol, I think you’ve connected the dots, and I think you know why we don’t want to kiss.”

He nodded and then pointed at Josie.

“Josie, can I speak to you one on one? Penelope wait here, I’ll talk to you next.”

Josie sighed, but followed Kol out to his office and sat down in the chair opposite his.

“Okay, so I figured that there might be some things you didn’t want to say in front of her, so here we are.”

Josie rubbed at her face.

“There’s so many reasons why this kiss would be a bad idea. I have a girlfriend, one who is in the cast, Penelope is my ex, it’s just a messy situation, and I really would like to avoid making it worse.”

Kol nodded.

“Okay, I understand that, and thank you for being honest with me. I just wanted to make sure that there won’t be any other problems with you two, considering that you’re playing the love interests.”

Josie sighed. She really didn’t know if she would be able to avoid problems with Penelope. Who knew, if Penelope pissed her off enough, Josie might just slap her on stage.

“I can’t promise anything, but I know that I’m going to try to be professional and to keep our drama out of it,” she told him finally. 

He nodded.

“That’s all I’m asking. All I know is that the two of you were the most talented actresses auditioning, and I think there’s so much potential there for this play to be great, as long as you two can work together.”

Josie tried her best to give him a comforting smile.

He chuckled.

“Alright, Miss Forbes-Laughlin, you can head off now. I’ll think about keeping the kiss out of it. You’re right, it might not exactly be the right thing.”

Something in Kol’s gaze told Josie that he wasn’t too disappointed with this outcome. Josie wondered if this was just his plan to find out what was going on with Penelope and Josie, and to make sure that they were going to be okay.

As she was exiting, Kol called after her.

“Oh, and Miss Forbes-Laughlin?” 

She looked back at him.

“Please try to make sure that your girlfriend doesn’t kill Penelope. It wouldn’t exactly be an ideal situation.”

Josie gave him an awkward nod and hurried out of there.

Lizzie gave her a quick look over as she entered the car.

“No boils, no horns, I think you’re good, Satan hasn't cursed you today. What did he want with you two anyways?”

Josie shrugged.

“It doesn’t matter. He just wanted to check in with us.”

Lizzie didn’t really seem to like the answer, but she started the car and left Josie to sit and stew in her many thoughts about Penelope Park.

+++

Josie wasn’t exactly sure how the fight had started.

Well, that was a lie, she knew exactly how it had started. She just wasn’t sure how she’d managed to get so pissed off that she’d yelled at Penelope in front of the entire cast and crew of the musical, as well as their teacher. 

And she’d almost brought Penelope to tears, which was honestly on a whole other level, because Penelope never cried. She didn’t even cry when they broke up. Which Josie did not want to think about, because she’d just get pissed off again.

It started out like any other rehearsal. It was pretty simple. Everyone was running their lines, then Kol or Kaleb would stop someone, add some blocking, and they’d keep going. 

Josie wasn’t used to doing so much work during rehearsals. Usually, she’d just sit to the side with the rest of the ensemble and they’d come up with jokes. 

Last year’s musical, Penelope had been cast as Titania and had absolutely killed the whole badass fairy queen vibe. Josie had just been one of the fairies who sang and danced around her, but Penelope had still managed to flirt with her even then.

It had been cute last year. Now, when they were very broken up, and Josie’s very current girlfriend was in the room, Penelope’s flirting was decidedly less cute.

They were just running through one of the ensemble numbers, and Penelope would not stop staring at Josie, or throwing her a little wink every now and then. And every time that she did it, Josie’s heart went haywire. 

She really did not need Penelope doing that right now. Jade was already jealous enough as it was, and if Lizzie thought that Penelope was doing something wrong, she would definitely interject.

So, Josie was trying not to react, but then when they were taking a quick break, Penelope strolled over to Josie with that signature grin. Josie just sighed and took a sip of her water.

“Hey Josie.”

“What the hell do you want Penelope?”

“Can’t a girl just say hi?”

“Not if you’ve been messing with me all afternoon. Seriously, is this whole thing a joke to you?”

“Hey, flirting with a pretty girl is serious business.”

“For someone who was all about consent the other day, you seem to be stepping over a lot of boundaries right now.”

Penelope tilted her head to the side.

“So, tell me to stop. Tell me that you feel nothing, and tell me that you hate me. You know, because you’ve gotten really good at that in recent weeks,” she sounded calm enough, but Josie knew that she wanted a reaction. So, Josie gave her one. 

Josie slammed her water bottle down, which attracted the attention of many of the others in the room, but she didn’t care. 

“What is your problem?”

Penelope rose an eyebrow, so Josie kept going.

“You broke up with me Penelope, let’s not get that twisted. So, what the hell are you trying to do here, because it sure as hell isn’t just ‘being in character’?”

Penelope looked for a moment like she’d actually give Josie a serious answer, but then she flicked Josie a lazy smile.

“You sure about that? Because last I checked, Troy was basically obsessed with Gabriella, so you might just be misreading things.”

“Can you stop being so immature for one second? Why are you even here Penelope, if you’re just going to be lazy, and treat everything like a joke? Or are you just unable to commit to anything serious?”

The whole room suddenly fell quiet. Josie hadn’t really meant to say it, but well, she didn’t exactly not mean it.

Penelope stepped back, the shock flaring on her face again. Josie saw Hope taking a tentative step forwards, as if she was going to interject, but Josie didn’t feel like stopping right now. Not when she had so much to say.

“Josie, I take this as seriously as you do,” Penelope told her. 

“Do you? Then tell me that auditioning for Troy had absolutely nothing to do with you wanting to be close to me. Tell me that you weren't flirting with me just to get a rise out of me because you're apparently starved for my attention.”

There was a tense silence in the room. Josie didn’t look away from Penelope for a second, challenging her to say something, to say anything.

Penelope looked down.

“That’s what I thought. So, you have two options now. Either stop acting like a joke who’s going to ruin this entire experience for everyone, or walk out of this room and don’t come back.”

“Josie—”

“Don’t. You’ve done enough, you’ve said enough, so just stop trying. Just stay the hell out of my way.”

Penelope opened her mouth again, but Josie wasn’t surprised when she had nothing to say. Josie had nothing left either. It felt good to go off at Penelope like that, to yell at her, and to see the shock in her eyes. 

Josie hated this about herself, but she loved seeing evidence that Josie had meant something to Penelope, loved knowing that maybe, just maybe, she had the same effect on Penelope that Penelope had on her. 

Then she saw Penelope looked away, blinking too much for her to not be holding back tears, and the reality of the whole situation set back in. Josie had hurt Penelope, in front of everyone. What had she been thinking?

Kol’s voice cut through the silence.

“Alright, I’m calling and end to this rehearsal. Miss Forbes-Laughlin, would you please come over here?” 

Penelope was the first to leave, taking long strides, and yanking her jacket off the chair where she’d left it. Josie watched her until she was gone from sight, and knew that she’d pushed a little bit too hard. She had once been Penelope’s best friend; she knew exactly how Penelope operated. 

And she knew that Penelope was not going to take that well. Dammit, now Josie felt like that bad guy. Which was so stupid, because she didn’t exactly regret saying what she did. She just regretted yelling it to the whole room.

She slowly walked over to Kol, who was watching her with a look of confusion and disappointment. Ah, Josie’s favorite expression to see on an authority figure. She literally might start crying.

She decided to launch straight into an apology. That was usually the best choice in these situations.

“I’m really sorry Mr Mikaelson, I know I promised to try and be professional, but I don’t know, Penelope just got on my nerves today, and I promise, it will not happen again.”

“Josie, are you alright?”

Josie looked up at him to see that he now looked genuinely concerned.

She frowned. Why was he asking if she was okay?

“Um, I’m okay,” she stuttered out, a little confused.

“I only really asked out of politeness. Josie, you’re clearly not okay.”

She bit her lip and looked back down. He sighed.

“Look, I am a little disappointed that you snapped like that at Penelope, because I expect this to be a safe space for everyone, but I know well enough that there’s a lot going on between you two, so I do understand.”

She looked back up at him.

“I am really sorry; I don’t know what came over me.”

He tilted his head to the side, a small smile on his face.

“Let me guess. You’ve been trying to be okay about this for a while, and you keep trying to convince everyone that you’re okay, but it’s really hard and sometimes you just don’t know how to deal with it?”

Her mouth fell open slightly. She wanted to be able to tell him that he’d got it completely wrong, but really, it was the opposite. He was so right. 

Once everything with Hope had happened, Josie had told herself that she needed to be okay. Told herself that wallowing and thinking about everything wouldn’t help her, and plus, she had to be there for Lizzie, and her mums were starting to get really worried about her. 

So, she’d put all of her problems in a little box in her head, and had then proceeded to not deal with any of it. And maybe it wasn’t a healthy solution, but she couldn’t force her problems on anyone else, and she couldn’t deal with them by herself, so it was a solution that worked.

“How did you know that?”

Kol chuckled.

“I was a kid once Josie. For me, I was always the trouble sibling. My family, as you are probably well aware, was a very dysfunctional one. They’ve gotten better, but there was a time when we would be at each other’s throats all the time. We would just hold grudges and never let go. But you know what?” 

Josie shook her head, a little puzzled about where this was going.

“It doesn’t work. It just makes everything worse. To deal with problems, and to be better, you have to communicate, and apologize.”

Josie huffed.

“I’m not the one who has to apologize. Penelope sort of broke my heart."

He laughed.

“I know. But maybe trying to have a civil conversation would do you two some good. And while you’re at it, there are some other bridges you should consider fixing.”

Josie knew that he was probably right about maybe giving civil conversation with Penelope a chance, but his second point was the one that stood out to her. Realization dawned upon her.

“You’re talking about Hope, aren’t you?”

He grinned, shrugging.

“I can be a concerned drama teacher, and also a meddling uncle. I might not be as close with Hope as some of my siblings are, but every time I called her, she always mentioned the Forbes-Laughlin twins. I get the feeling that maybe that’s a friendship you shouldn’t let go to waste.”

Josie sighed.

“You might be right about that. It’s just hard, I’m not very good about talking to people about things.”

He laughed.

“Neither is she, so you should be fine.” He turned around and started packing his stuff up.

“That’s all I wanted to say. I’ll catch up with Miss Park and make sure that your remarks didn’t damage her too much. And while what happened in your past may not warrant an apology, I feel like maybe today’s actions could do with one.”

Josie nodded.

“Okay. And thanks. I was expecting you to yell at me.”

“Like I said, this is a safe space. I want my students to be comfortable, and I want to make sure that you get along. Yelling at you wouldn’t do any good, but I find a good conversation and some advice goes a long way.”

Josie nodded again, smiling at him, before walking out.

Lizzie was waiting for her by the car again.

“Okay, so you’re alive. What happened? Not just with Kol, but with Satan.”

Josie shrugged.

“He just asked if I was okay and made sure I wasn’t going to it again.” She didn’t mention the advice about talking to Penelope and Hope. She didn’t think either of those ideas would go down well with Lizzie.

“Well that’s good. Why did you snap at Penelope? I thought she was just sitting at a normal Penelope irritating level.”

Josie sighed, leaning back as Lizzie turned on the car and started pulling them out of the now empty parking lot. She looked out at the cars and wondered if the red Lamborghini was Kol’s. It definitely seemed his style.

“Jo?” Lizzie prompted.

Josie fiddling with the edge of her jacket as a way to avoid Lizzie’s interrogating gaze.

“I don’t know. I guess I just had some stuff I still needed to say to her. It felt good, but I do think I shouldn’t have done it in front of everyone.”

They were silent for a moment, then Lizzie said.

“Well, I think she deserved it. She’s a bitch and she had it coming. She’s been giving me these looks recently, like I did something wrong and honestly, I don't understand how you put up with her for so long.”

Josie sighed. Of course, Lizzie would find a way to make this situation relate to her. Usually, she’d just let that go, and would agree with Lizzie, but this time she felt a prickle of annoyance. 

“Josie? Are you listening?”

“Yeah, I’m just a bit tired.”

Lizzie sighed.

“I worry about you sometimes Josie.”

For the rest of the car ride they just sat in silence, with Josie wondering why this was the first time in a while that Lizzie had mentioned caring about her feelings.

How stupid was that? Josie had just gone through a breakup, and had lost two of her best friends, but she couldn’t remember the last time that her sister had asked how she was going.

Why was she thinking about this? Just because Lizzie didn’t talk with her about her feelings didn’t mean that she was terrible. She’d been plenty supportive, even if Josie did feel like she was going over the top with it sometimes. But that was just how Lizzie was. Josie was used to it by now. 

She was probably just missing Hope and Penelope a little bit more today for some reason. Hope had always been the one who Josie could talk to about deep stuff, even if Hope was awkward and didn’t handle feelings well, she’d been a good listener. And Penelope, well, Penelope had always been there for Josie. Even if Josie didn’t often take her up on her offers to listen, she had been there.

Until she wasn’t.

And for some reason, Josie was starting to wonder if maybe Penelope wasn’t the only one to blame.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, we have a lot of angsty Posie right now, but I promise you, they will start getting better soon! And, for all of you who want to know what happened between Hope and the twins, the next chapter is all about Hope and Josie, so be excited for that, whenever I'm able to post that!   
> I hope that all of you who are still in quarantine are doing okay, and to those who are out and about, remember to stay safe!   
> Love you guys, and I hope I'll be able to post again soon!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So, there isn't any Posie in this chapter (sorry), but Hope and Josie are finally going to talk! And, you'll be seeing the flashback of why they were fighting!  
> Enjoy!

The next afternoon, Josie didn’t feel like going to drama rehearsal early. Usually, she’d be there fifteen minutes before it started, running over her lines, or talking to the other drama kids, but right now she just didn’t feel like it. She just needed to be alone for a moment.

So, she went to the music room. It was usually pretty empty in the afternoons and Josie felt like maybe fiddling around with the piano. If only she had her ukulele with her, she could come up with a song or something.

She got to the room and pushed the door open. When she looked to the piano, she found that she wasn’t alone in the room. Because sitting at the piano was Hope.

Hope hadn’t noticed her yet, she was busy playing an unfamiliar tune on the piano, and Josie knew that she could just quietly shut the door and go find another place. It would be fine, and she could avoid an awkward conversation.

But Kol’s voice rang in her head, convincing her to take another step into the room, shutting the door behind her. He was right. Josie needed to talk to Hope. She regretted so much that she had said to Hope that night, and she really missed having her friend.

Her and Hope had never been the closest out of the four of them. Hope was Lizzie’s best friend, just like Penelope was Josie’s, and Hope and Penelope had been the two of their group who would always do stupid reckless things together as the twins rolled their eyes.

But Hope had been the first one that Josie had told about her crush on Penelope. Hope had been the one who was there for her when Josie just wanted a moment to breathe and be calm. Lizzie would always try to distract Josie from her worries, and Penelope would try to get Josie to talk about them, but Hope would just let her be.

And Josie missed her sarcasm, and the way that she always knew how to make Josie feel better.

She missed her friend.

So, she spoke.

“Hey.”

Hope looked up, a little shocked.

“Uh, hey,” Hope said back, looking a little nervous. They were both silent for a moment, staring at each other blankly.

Josie decided to do what she did best when she got nervous and didn’t know how to start a conversation; ramble.

“I just didn’t really feel like hanging out with the drama kids before practice, and I kinda just wanted to mess around on the piano, and just have some peace and quiet, but I don’t really know. If you want me to leave, I can, I’m sure there’ll be a couch in the library that’s free.” Josie didn’t know why she was backtracking so quickly, but she supposed it was her brain’s response to the feeling of having her heart racing so fast.

Hope also started rambling.

“Oh no, it’s totally fine. I’m sure Landon will already be at rehearsal, I can just go and you can hang it here, it’s totally fine, don’t even worry about it,” she said, gathering up her stuff. Josie realized that her chance of making things right with Hope was slipping fast through her fingers, and she could not let that happen. So, she took another step forward.

“Or you could stay.”

Hope looked at her a little disbelievingly.

“I don’t want to disrupt you.”

“Well, if we’re being technical, I disrupted you. So, if you’re okay with me crashing your piano time, I’m okay with both of us being here," Josie told her with a smile, trying to show Hope that she was being genuine. 

Hope nodded, seemingly at a loss for words. Josie walked over to her.

“So, why are you here?”

Hope laughed nervously, putting the stuff she’d been gathering up back where it had been.

“Kol thought that Ms Darbus deserved an Act Two power ballad, and he asked me to write it. I’ve just been sort of messing around with lyrics and stuff, hoping that something sticks.”

Josie nodded.

“That’s really cool Hope.”

Hope shrugged.

“You were always the better songwriter out of the two of us. I could come up with the sound, but you were amazing with words.”

Josie laughed. She remembered all those afternoons with her ukulele and songbook with Hope, both of them trying to figure something out. Those had been good days.

She tried to forget that the best ones had included Penelope lying on her bed, coming up with really bad lyrics, and making Hope and Josie laugh.

“Well, maybe I could help out. We always made a good team.”

Hope looked at her as if Josie wasn’t real. 

“Are you being serious now or is Lizzie going to jump out from behind the door with a camera?”

Josie laughed.

“No camera, no Lizzie, just me. I’ve been avoiding you for so long, and that’s unfair to you.”

Hope shrugged.

“I mean, I haven’t exactly gone out of my way to find you. It's on me too."

Both of them were silent for a moment again, thinking of all the words that had been said that night in the summer.

Josie still remembered it so clearly. Remembered how her heart had still been aching from Penelope’s wounds, and how she’d called Hope over. Hope had been informed of the events through Lizzie, and when she’d first heard of it, she’d been so pissed at Penelope. Josie still had the texts where Hope had gone off, saying that she was so mad at Penelope for what she’d done. 

So, when she’d come over and Josie had been ranting about Penelope to her, she’d thought that Hope would take her side.

But she hadn’t.

\---  
 _  
“She’s just such a fucking bitch, I can’t believe that she’d do something like this. Actually, no, I can totally believe she would. I opened up about my feelings and she just shut me out, it’s a classic Penelope move. I should have known it would end like this,” Josie exclaimed, pacing back and forth in her room. She waited a moment for Hope to pitch in with some sort of agreement, or affirmative noise. But she didn’t._

_Josie looked at Hope, who was frowning, and completely avoiding Josie’s gaze._

_“Hope?”_

_“What?” Hope asked, somewhat tiredly._

_“Are you listening right now?”_

_Hope sighed._

_“Look, Josie, I know that you’re really hurting right now, but I think that you’re being sort of harsh on her,” Hope explained. Josie stared at Hope like she’d announced that she was secretly a vampire._

_“What?”_

_“She’s struggling too, you know.”_

_Josie scoffed._

_“Actually, no I don’t. Because she never tells me anything,” she said bitterly._

_Hope sighed again._

_“Josie, we both know that she has a tough time opening up to people about her issues.”_

_Josie did know that very well. She knew that Penelope had issues, knew that her family life wasn’t the best, and that she was struggling, but Penelope had never wanted to talk about it. Ever since they’d been kids, Penelope always had so many defenses up. Josie was lucky that she’d managed to get past enough to call her a friend, let alone a girlfriend._

_“I was her best friend. I was her girlfriend. I was supposed to be the one that she opened up to. But she just kept shutting me out. What was I meant to do?”_

_Hope stood up, and Josie was a little startled by how worked up she looked over this._

_“You could’ve tried to get past those walls. If you had asked, she would have talked to you, and you know that.”_

_Josie wanted to say that it wasn’t true, but Hope was right. The few times that Penelope had had breakdowns and Josie had helped her through them, she’d told Josie what had happened when Josie asked._

_There had been a number of nights where Penelope had lain next to Josie in the darkness, and when Josie had asked her what she was thinking about, Penelope had told her._

_Had she stopped asking recently? Yeah, but only because she knew that Penelope didn’t like talking about it. And fine, maybe sometimes she felt bad because she wanted to help, because now she knew what was wrong, but she just didn’t know how. So, she’d stopped asking, and had hoped that her presence was enough._

_But she didn’t feel like explaining all of that to Hope, so she settled for getting defensive._

_“Yeah well, it’s not my fault that she got scared and broke up with me.”_

_Hope’s gaze softened just a little, probably at the way Josie’s voice wavered when she said the words ‘broke up’._

_“Josie, I’m not saying that she shouldn’t have done that. I still think she was an idiot for doing it. I'm just saying that maybe this was something that had been brewing for a while.”_

_Josie could barely believe what she was hearing. She felt anger bubbling in her chest as she processed the words. How dare Hope suggest that her and Penelope had been doomed? Hope wasn’t part of their relationship._

_They’d been happy. This wasn’t a ‘their relationship was falling apart’ thing. This was a ‘Penelope fucked up and broke Josie’s heart’ thing. Josie didn’t want to lose Penelope, she had done everything she could, she’d told Penelope that she’d loved her._

_Josie knew why Hope was saying this though. She’d talked to Penelope, Penelope had told her some shit, and now Hope was on her side. It was almost laughably predictable._

_“Why do you always do this?”_

_“Always do what?”_

_“Take everyone else’s side. I know that I’m not your favorite twin, and Penelope’s your friend too, but for once in my life, I’d like to be chosen for something.” Josie knew that she probably sounded like a whiny little kid, mad about not getting the ice cream they wanted, but honestly, this specific thought had been in her mind for a long time._

_Everyone always chose other people. She was never anyone’s first choice._

_Except for Penelope. Penelope had chosen her first every time. And then she’d decided that Josie wasn’t worth it. And maybe that hurt more than Josie had expected it to._

_She shouldn’t lash out on Hope, but these emotions needed to go somewhere, and well, Hope was right there, saying some things that Josie didn’t really like at all._

_“Josie are you serious right now?” Hope asked incredulously._

_“Of course, I’m serious. Are you telling me that you’ve haven’t noticed it?”_

_Hope stepped towards her and put a hand on her arm._

_“Josie, I know it might feel like no one sees you, but we all do. I’m on your side.”_

_Josie shook her head and yanked her arm away from Hope, stepping back._

_“That’s not what it feels like right now. It feels like you’re disregarding my heartbreak, because it’s convenient for you.”_

_Hope shook her head._

_“Jo, where is this coming from?”_

_Josie folded her arms, hating the fact that her eyes had decided to fill with tears. Why couldn’t she have been born as one of those people who could get into arguments and still look like a badass? Why did she have to cry in every emotional confrontation?_

_It felt like every vulnerability she’d ever had was suddenly rising to the surface, begging to be seen. And Josie couldn’t have that happen._

_So, she said something that she was definitely going to regret._

_“Why do you even care? It’s not like you’ve ever cared about me, not when you’re too busy being in love with Lizzie.”_

_There was silence so sharp that Josie could feel it cutting into her heart. Hope looked like she’d actually been hit. Panic rose in her eyes, and her shoulders sagged._

_“How…how long have you known?” She asked, her voice full of emotion._

_Josie shook her head. She should have stopped there, but the ugly side of her, the dark angry part that wanted to hurt and hurt and hurt told her to keep going._

_“It’s not exactly a secret. Everyone knows,” Josie told her harshly. Hope’s eyes filled with fear._

_“Everyone?”_

_Josie took a step forward._

_“Everyone.”_

_Hope shook her head and looked down, but Josie had already seen the tears forming._

_They were silent for a moment, nothing but their breathes filling the room._

_“Why hasn’t she said anything?” Hope asked finally._

_Josie shrugged._

_“Because you’re her best friend and she didn’t want to end your friendship because you caught feelings.” Josie didn’t add that Lizzie was definitely going to double down on that opinion in the wake of Josie and Penelope’s breakup._

_Hope looked at her with empty eyes._

_“So, she doesn’t…she doesn’t want me back?”_

_Josie sighed._

_“She’s Lizzie. She doesn’t know what she wants, but I can say it’s a pretty safe bet that it won’t be you.” Josie didn’t know why she said that. Maybe it was the dark part of her, or maybe it was the part of her that wanted Hope to lash out, wanted Hope to yell at her, to call her a horrible friend. After this whole argument, she definitely deserved it. So, might as well seal the coffin, right?_

_“Maybe it would be nice for you not to be picked for once,” Josie added, and waited for her words to explode in the room, possibly taking their friendship with them._

_Hope’s eyes filled with shock, and then tinted red with anger. Josie knew she’d finally pushed her over the edge. but when Hope stepped forwards angrily, she realized that she regretted it a lot._

_“You know what Josie? The reason why everyone picks other people is because you like to pretend that you’re selfless when actually, you’re a selfish bitch who keeps up the nice girl act because she’s too scared to be herself.”_

_Fuck._

_Josie didn’t think her heart could take any more hurt after Penelope, but hearing that, from Hope? That hurt so much._

_She wondered if Hope was aware that she’d picked on about half of Josie’s insecurities in one sentence and torn them all to shreds._

_Josie couldn’t do this anymore. She couldn’t be having this conversation anymore._

_“Go,” she said, but it didn’t have half the conviction that she wanted._

_Hope stepped forwards again, but this time with less anger. Josie saw the regret in her eyes, the way she reached out as if to somehow comfort Josie, and flinched back._

_“Josie, I didn’t mean—”_

_“We both know that you did, otherwise you wouldn’t have said it, now please just leave.” Again, she hated the way her voice broke on the last word, but Hope seemed to understand that the conversation was over. She nodded at Josie, and slowly walked out the door._

_Josie dropped back on her bed, tears now streaming freely down her face. She didn’t know how long had passed before she heard the sound of voices shouting outside, but when she did, she knew she’d really fucked it up this time.  
_

\---

Josie pulled herself out of the memory and blurted out the first words that came to mind, the words she should have said back then.

“I’m so sorry Hope,” she said, feeling emotion rising in her chest. Hope just gave her a small smile.

“I’m sorry too Jo.”

Josie shook her head. 

“I’m sorry for being such a bitch to you, you were just trying to defend your friend and it was stupid and selfish of me to get all defensive. I’m sorry for going on about how you never picked me, that was so unfair. And I am so sorry for what I said about Lizzie. It’s not true, okay? I don’t think that, I just lost control of myself, but that’s not an excuse and I—I’m just so sorry Hope.” By the end of it, she’d teared up. Hope just kept smiling at her, but Josie noticed the tears in her own eyes.

Hope stood up, and enveloped Josie in a hug. Josie fell into it immediately. 

“I don’t think you’re a selfish bitch, okay? What I said to you, I didn’t mean it either, I really didn’t, I was just so hurt, and I wanted to hurt you, and I knew that would work, and I’m so sorry for doing that to you," Hope murmured into her shoulder. 

Josie shook her head and they pulled out of the hug.

“No, you’re right. I do keep up the nice girl act because I’m scared that people won’t like me. And I’m way more selfish than I let on.”

Hope sighed.

“But I still shouldn’t have said it.”

Josie shrugged.

“It’s okay. I get it. Lizzie was a topic that I shouldn't have brought up." 

Hope sighed and looked at the ground.

"Does she hate me?" Hope asked after a moment of silence. Josie didn't even need to think before answering.

"She'd like to hate you, but I don't think she can. You were her best friend. I don't know exactly what went down between the two of you, but I get the feeling that you can fix it."

Hope bit her lip, and looked at Josie.

"Do you think that we can fix us? And be friends again? Because I'd understand if you were mad at me, and I'd understand if you still needed time."

Josie almost wanted to cry at how considerate Hope was being. This was again a reminder that Josie couldn't let this friendship go to waste. Hope was a good person, and Josie needed good people in her life. 

"No, I forgive you. Not that there's much to forgive," she told her, looking her in the eyes, trying to convey without saying it how much she missed Hope. Hope seemed to get it, because she smiled and asked

“So, does this mean we’re friends again?” She asked it with a joking tone, but Josie could tell that she meant it, and she laughed, and actual genuine smile forming on her face.

“Yeah, we’re friends, I think I miss you too much to be mad at you for any longer. Although, you’ll probably have to go through another conversation entirely to get on that ground with Lizzie.” She winced as soon as she said it, but Hope just patted her shoulder.

“It’s okay. I know. We both fucked up that night, and I’ve definitely got plenty to apologise for with her as well.” She gestured to the piano.

“Want to seal our friendship with some song writing?”

Josie grinned.

“Sounds great.”

The two of them sat down, and Hope showed Josie what she’d been working on. 

“So, the song is about regrets?” Josie asked. 

Hope nodded, biting her lip.

“Yeah. I feel like Ms Darbus gave up her chance at an acting career for a job as a drama teacher at this school and I feel like she regrets it and wonders about what her life could’ve been like if she hadn’t become a teacher.”

Josie nodded, and looked over the lyrics that Hope had scribbled out. It looked like she only had the verses and hadn’t yet written a chorus.

She looked at the second verse and immediately knew who Hope had written it about. Hope looked down when she saw what Josie was looking at.

“Oh. Yeah, that bit is sort of inspired by your sister.”

“It’s good. It really encapsulates the feeling of regret when you say something that you wish you hadn’t. I know I’ve had a lot of that recently.”

Hope sighed.

“Like yesterday at rehearsals?”

Josie chuckled, shaking her head. Thinking about what she'd done at rehearsals made her feel so embarrassed. Penelope may have been annoying, but Josie had been way out of line. 

“I don’t know what I was thinking. Although, I guess I’ve never really known what I was saying around Penelope. Especially when it came to my feelings.”

Hope laid a gentle hand on Josie’s knee.

“You don’t have to feel bad about telling her that you loved her, you know?”

Josie shrugged.

“I just wonder what would’ve happened if I hadn’t said it. If maybe I should have just kept it in and not ruined everything.”

“Hey,” Hope said firmly, causing Josie to look up at her, “You didn’t ruin it, okay? That’s not how it works, and you know it.”

Josie just sighed and turned back to the song book.

“I think for the chorus you should have something about her wondering whether she should have gone back and changed the past, but not knowing if things would be better. You know, like being scared that maybe the grass isn’t greener on the other side, but still being sad that you don’t know.”

Hope nodded, seeming to get that Josie didn’t want to talk about Penelope. 

“That’s good. How about ‘If I could go back and change the past, be a little braver than I had, and bet against the odds, would I still be lost?’,” Hope asked.

Josie nodded.

“That’s really good.”

The two of them sat there, scribbling down lyrics that they came up with, losing themselves in the act of creating. When they had what they considered to be a good first draft for the song, they turned to the piano.

“I’ll play and sing, so that you can get an idea of the sound, and then you can come in for the second verse,” Hope told her. Josie nodded and got ready. It had been a while since she’d tried singing an original song, so this should be interesting. 

She’d forgotten how good Hope was at singing and for a moment she just stared at her friend in awe. The amount of emotion in her voice also shook her a little, because wow, Hope was really going out for this song. 

Josie felt a little bad, because she could tell that a lot of this wasn’t acting, it was Hope’s actual emotion, and she hadn’t been there for her. In fact, she’d pretty much cut her off, and had probably caused a fair bit of this pain. Although, Lizzie was definitely at fault for most of it.

Hope nudged Josie as they approached the second verse, and Josie slowly started to sing, hating the way that the lyrics started to mold themselves to her own life.

“Feels like I might’ve broke the best thing I had. Said too much to ever take it back.” Well, Josie definitely felt that. Like she’d said earlier, she felt like the breakup had been her fault, because she’d pushed feelings onto Penelope that she wasn’t ready for. 

“Scared I’ll never find something as good. And would I even know it if I could?” Josie knew that they were young. She knew that she was only 17, but it really felt like Penelope was the best that she could ever do. She’d known Penelope since they were kids, and Penelope had somehow known Josie in a way that not even Lizzie did. Penelope had treated her perfectly, had always encouraged Josie to do what she wanted to do, and had always been there when Josie needed someone to talk to. 

And yes, she had Jade now. And Jade treated her so well, but Josie couldn’t help but compare the two sometimes. Penelope had impacted her in such a significant way and Josie didn’t know how she was ever going to get over it. 

She knew that it was unfair to Jade, especially since Jade had told her that she loved her, but Josie knew deep down that this relationship wasn’t meant to last.

The two of them launched back into the chorus voices slowly finding a perfect harmony. It was strangely therapeutic singing about her regrets with a friend who she’d been fighting with up to a few minutes ago.

They sang the last note, and Josie stared out into the emptiness of the music room, a feeling of joy in her chest. She turned to Hope, both of them unable to hide their smiles. 

They knew the song was good, and it felt good to be by each other’s sides again. 

Then someone cleared their throat behind them, and they both spun around. Josie’s heart dropped.

It was two people. 

Penelope and Lizzie.

Josie didn’t want to know what circumstances had brought the two of them here, but she knew that they’d definitely heard a fair bit of that. Josie didn’t know what she was more scared of; Lizzie being pissed about her talking to Hope or Penelope getting to see another part of her soul.

She turned her eyes to Penelope’s face and was shocked at the pure adoration in her eyes. Josie hadn’t seen that look in such a long time that it physically hurt to see it again now.

And it hurt even more to realize that all she wanted was Penelope looking at her like that every single day for the rest of her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what do you think? Now that you know why Hope and Josie were fighting, so do you think that their reactions were warranted?   
> The song that they write together in this chapter is called Wondering, and I definitely recommend listening to it. It always manages to put me in my feels, and Olivia Rodrigo's voice is amazing!  
> Also, I know that I don't usually talk about anything serious here, but with the way that the world is these days, I feel that I must. You've probably heard about everything going on with George Floyd and his murder, and so here is a link to a list of petitions that you can sign in support of this situation! https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/#petitions  
> I hope all of you are staying safe, and I will return to you with Penelope's perspective on things soon in the future!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! School sucks, but Posie fanfiction does not! This chapter is a bit longer than usual and we get to see Posie interacting!   
> Enjoy!

Penelope truly realized that Josie might hate her forever when she snapped at her during rehearsal.

She’d known that Josie hated her now. She’d known that they’d probably never get back together. But she’d also known that Josie was a very forgiving person, sometimes to a fault. And maybe a little part of her had thought that maybe Josie would eventually let them be friends again.

Had Penelope been purposefully flirting with her during the rehearsal? Yes. Was it really stupid to do that? Yes. Had she done it anyway? Of course.

When Kol had talked to her the other day, he’d told her that Josie was going to try to be professional. Penelope had promised that she was going to try her best to let Josie do what she needed to do.

She’d broken that promise really quickly, looking back on it. She hoped that Josie didn’t get in trouble for snapping at like that because Penelope had sort of deserved it.

She’d wanted to say hi to Josie because she thought that maybe the other day had been a step in the right direction. Penelope had backed Josie up, and Josie had actually looked at her without pure hatred. So, maybe she’d been hopeful that they could have a conversation.

She should have known that Josie was gonna be pissed at her for her flirting. She should have known that Josie wasn’t going to take her shit. She just hadn’t seen Josie yelling at her in front of the whole room coming. 

When Josie had said those words, had attacked her for not being able to properly commit to things, Penelope had felt something inside of her break, just a little bit. Because, well, it was sort of true. Josie had told her to leave, to walk out of the room and never come back. And Penelope knew that while she was probably not thinking right, there was some part of Josie that meant it. Some part that just wanted Penelope out of her life. 

That was why she was the first one out of the room. Because she couldn’t stand being in a room with Josie when the other girl hated her so much.

Hope and Landon had run after her, of course. They were so loyal, and they always knew how to deal with Penelope in crisis mode.

“Penelope!” Hope called after her. This one time, Penelope just kept walking. It didn’t take long for Hope to reach her, and then a few seconds later, a heavily breathing Landon was on her other side.

“Jeez Pen, slow down,” he complained.

“Sorry, I’m too busy getting as far away from Josie as possible. You know, seeing as my very presence fucks her over.” She stopped when they reached the car park and stared up at the sky for a minute, just feeling the beat of her heart in her chest.

“This was such a fucking stupid idea,” she muttered.

“Hey, don’t say that,” Hope said, laying a hand on Penelope’s shoulder.

“You don’t even know what I’m talking about,” Penelope countered.

“Yeah, well, it doesn’t matter. We’re on your side no matter what, remember? That’s what we promised you that day in seventh grade when you got in trouble for punching Connor when he called Josie a bitch, and we still mean that,” Landon told her with a small smile. 

She looked at him and sighed.

“Why are you always so annoyingly positive?”

He shrugged.

“How else am I going to deal with my shitty childhood?”

Penelope rolled her eyes, but she did feel a little less like shit. Her friends’ presence calmed her. 

Although, Josie had usually been with them, slipping her hand into Penelope’s, resting her head on Penelope’s shoulder, telling Penelope that she was there, or asking Penelope if she wanted to go to their spot.

Penelope fucking missed Josie. Even if she had no right to do that, even if she knew that breaking up with Josie would have negative effects for her, she had still done it. So, now she just had to deal with it.

“I still shouldn’t have auditioned for Troy.”

Landon snorted.

“Are you kidding? You were so much better than everyone else.”

“Didn’t your brother literally audition?” Hope asked with a frown. Landon just shrugged.

“Yeah, and he would have been okay, but he confessed to me that he’s happier with Chad. He thinks that being Troy would’ve stressed him out too much.”

“But at least Josie would’ve been comfortable. At least she wouldn’t have had to do scenes with the girl who literally ripped her heart into pieces.” Penelope sighed. “God, I’m so selfish.”

Hope squeezed her shoulder.

“You aren’t.”

“I am.”

“You aren’t.”

“Stop arguing with me Mikaelson.”

“Stop being self-deprecating Park.”

Penelope sighed and stepped away from the two of them.

“Look, all I’m saying is that I don’t know if staying in the role of Troy is worth it. If I stay, Josie might decide that she hates me so much that she quits the musical.” Penelope could picture it now. Josie would just let others take the light, and she’d crawl back into the shadows. Penelope would never forgive herself if she let Josie do that.

“Penelope, you can’t quit,” Hope argued, but Penelope held up a hand.

“I’m not saying that I will, I’m just saying that maybe I should consider it.” She shook her head. “I’m gonna head out to the park, just chill and listen to music.”

Hope sighed.

“Okay, but don’t do anything stupid until you’ve calmed down. If Kol tells me that you sent in your resignation or some shit, I’m coming to your house, and I am going to blast The Gummy Bear Song at your window until you unresign.”

Penelope cracked a small smile.

“Alright, I’ll hold off on making any decisions until I’ve really thought about it.” 

Hope and Landon nodded at her.

“See you guys tomorrow,” she said, flicking them a lazy salute as she walked away.

She needed to get out of there.

+++

The park was Penelope’s favorite place to hang out. And yes, she was aware of the pun. Pretty much every person in her life had made that joke. The only person who hadn’t gotten slapped for making it was Josie, because Penelope thought that her cute little grin was too adorable to slap away.

And she didn’t think she had it in her to hit Josie. 

She liked to sit up the top of the flying fox, and just sit and listen to music. Not many kids came to the park at this time of night, and those that did, stayed away from the scary looking girl in the black hoodie who glared at everyone who came her way.

She liked to just sit there, and look out at the trees. She thought it was so nice and peaceful. It felt like time stopped and she could just be in her own little bubble. 

Penelope had never shared her special place with anyone. Anyone except Josie of course. 

Her and Josie had their own spot, on a bridge nearby, where they’d sit with their legs through the sides, and sometimes they’d feed the ducks underneath. Not with bread of course, because Josie had insisted that bread was bad for the ducks, and she didn’t want to make them sick. They’d danced a few times on that bridge, and had probably been judged by the passers-by. Or maybe the ducks. 

But they’d never cared. They’d just been happy, and that was enough. That spot carried memories of their best times. Penelope had gone their many times over the summer, just to try and relieve that joy. 

The flying fox was different. This was Penelope’s ‘my life is falling to shit and I really just need to be alone right now’ spot. She’d only shared it with Josie a few times, when Penelope had asked her to come. Penelope had wanted the company, and Josie had wanted Penelope to be happy. 

Usually though, Josie had liked to give Penelope her space, so she’d never tried to intrude. Josie had always been good at giving Penelope space. Until she’d given her too much space, and Penelope had spun away from her, lost in the stars.

She was so immersed in her thoughts of Josie that she didn’t notice someone climbing the ladder to get to the flying fox. She didn’t notice that someone was up there with her until they waved their hand in front of her face.

Penelope pulled out her earplugs and saw that it was one of the new kids, Maya, she thought. She was pretty sure that Maya had gone for Gabriella and had been cast as Taylor instead. 

Maya rose an eyebrow.

“You good?” She asked. Penelope just stared at her, a little confused as to why the hell this girl she’d never spoken to thought that she could just intrude on Penelope’s peace.

“Sorry, what the hell are you doing here?” Penelope asked, a little rudely, climbing to her feet.

Maya shrugged.

“I came here with my brother. He’s a skater boy, so he’s over at the park. I went exploring and saw you sitting here all alone. Thought maybe I should check on you.”

Penelope scoffed.

“Well, I’m good, so consider your charity work for the day completed.” She gave Maya a little bow. “You can leave now.”

Maya, for some very stupid reason, did not leave.

“Okay, what do you want? Just spit it out, I don’t have time for idiots,” Penelope told her.

Maya sighed.

“Look, I saw what happened at rehearsal—”

“So, did everyone. You aren’t special.”

“I don’t know you and Josie’s history, but it seems like you two both have a pretty big impact on each other.”

Penelope threw her hands up.

“Oh great, just what I wanted. Commentary on my relationship from someone who has witnessed none of it. This isn’t your business.”

“It is if you’re considering quitting the musical.”

That gave Penelope pause. How the hell did this random girl know that Penelope was considering dropping out? Unless…

“Did you eavesdrop on me?” Penelope asked incredulously.

Maya shrugged.

“It’s not really eavesdropping if you were speaking at a normal voice level in a public place. I was right there, and I happened to overhear your conversation.”

Penelope sighed and folded her arms.

“Right. You got me. I’m thinking about dropping out. How does this affect you, pray tell?” Penelope asked with a raised eyebrow.

Maya took a step towards her.

“Look. Like I said, I don’t know your history, but what I do know is that you’re the only one who auditioned for Troy who didn’t suck. You’re clearly talented, and I take my theatre seriously. You’re good, so don’t drop out for a girl, and ruin it for everyone.”

Penelope was speechless. She didn’t think she’d ever had anyone, besides maybe Hope or Lizzie, speak to her like this. Although, that was mainly due to the fact that everyone else in school was terrified of her. 

It was almost…nice? 

“Josie’s good too. I don’t want to ruin it for her,” Penelope argued.

Maya scoffed.

“I get that you’re pulling some romantic self-sacrificial move, but really? You’re the lead and it’s your second last year at this school. Don’t waste it.” She took a step back.

“That’s all I wanted to say. I just thought that maybe instead of doing what you think Josie wants, do what you want. Make the selfish move. I promise you; the world won’t fall to pieces.” Maya gave her one last look, and then walked away, leaving a very stunned Penelope alone at the top of the flying fox.

What the hell just happened?

+++

Like every night, Penelope was dreading going home. She knew it could be worse, and that an absent mother and a father barely keeping his head above water wasn’t all too bad, but it still sucked.

Her dad was sitting on the couch, staring at the TV, which was very much not on.

“Wow, that’s my favorite show. I can’t wait until you meet my favorite character, Black Pixel Number Seven,” she deadpanned. He groaned.

“Hilarious kiddo. I was just lost in thought.” He frowned. “You’re back late.”

She shrugged.

“I stopped by the park to clear my head after rehearsal.” She slid her bag off of her shoulder. “Any word from mother dearest about when she’s coming back?”

Her dad sighed.

“She thinks it’ll be another couple of weeks.” He stood up and walked over to the kitchen. “You know, you could call her. I’m sure she’d love to hear from you.”

“Dad, don’t do that. We both know that she’ll tell me that she’s too busy and that I should call again later. I’d rather not waste my time.” She followed him into the kitchen. “Did you make dinner, or do you want me to call the pizza place down the road?”

He shook his head and procured a plate of rice and chicken from the freezer. 

“I made this. Figured that you’d be hungry after rehearsal.” 

She smiled and took the plate, making her way back to the living room to eat. Her dad followed, and sat opposite her. For a moment, they were silent. Then Penelope noticed that he was watching her.

“What?”

He smiled at her. 

“How was rehearsal?”

She groaned.

“Can we not talk about rehearsal?” She really didn’t want to tell the story of Josie yelling in her face.

Her dad, of course, knew about the breakup. She'd had to explain why Josie wasn't coming around anymore, and why Penelope was so sad all the time. He just didn’t know the details, because Penelope had refused to tell him. She didn’t want to deal with him telling her that she’d made a mistake.

So, they just didn’t talk about it. They didn’t talk about much these days. 

He sighed.

“That bad huh?”

Penelope didn’t dignify that question with an answer. She just kept eating.

Her dad gave her a sad smile.

“Was it Josie?”

She gave him a pointed look and he rose his hands in defense, chuckling.

“I know, I know, not everything is about Josie, and I know it’s a touchy subject, but I just wanted to ask. Talking can be good for you kiddo.”

She stabbed her fork into a piece of chicken.

“Yeah, it was Josie. Can this interrogation please stop now?” 

He sighed, and leant back in his chair, seemingly admitting defeat.

“Alright. I get it kid; you don’t want to talk. I’ll give you space.”

She gave him a small smile, and then finished her dinner in silence.

That night she didn’t even try to get to sleep early. She just stayed up listening to music and scrolling through old pictures of her and Josie. Pictures of when they were just kids, so happy and full of life. Pictures of when they were awkward preteens, mostly taken by Hope at the worst possible times. And of course, pictures from when they were dating, cute selfies, or just pictures Penelope had snapped of Josie when she wasn’t looking.

She shouldn’t focus on the past, but she couldn’t help it. How were you supposed to move on from the girl who had been in your life since before you knew what love was?

The answer? You didn’t.

+++

When Josie didn’t turn up to rehearsal, Penelope got worried. 

Had she herself been considering quitting, just yesterday? Well, yeah, but she’d actually taken her friends’ advice and had sucked it up. Even if, strangely, Maya had been the one to really get her to think clearly.

She was right after all. Theatre was Penelope’s place too. The stage was big enough for both of them, and if Penelope just reigned in the troublemaking, they’d be fine.

But then Josie and Hope didn’t show up to rehearsal. Penelope had tried texting Hope, but it seemed that her phone was at the bottom of the ocean, because there had been no response. She hadn’t seen her friend since lunch, and she hadn’t mentioned anything about being late, so Penelope had no idea what was happening.

Kol jumped up on stage.

“Right, we all seem to be here…wait, where’s our Gabriella?” 

“I don’t know,” Lizzie told him. Penelope scoffed, and Lizzie glared at her.

“You have something you’d like to say to me, Penelope?” Lizzie asked.

Penelope shrugged.

“I just think that it’s stupid that you don’t know where your sister is, considering that usually you’re stuck together.” Penelope had promised herself to be less of a troublemaker in rehearsals, but only to Josie. Lizzie was still fair game, and Penelope was still a little pissed at her.

Even if Lizzie didn’t know the part she’d played in the disintegration of Penelope and Josie’s relationship, Penelope knew very well. She remembered it very well indeed.

“Well, do you know where Hope is? You know, considering that she’s basically your trained puppy dog?” Lizzie snapped back. 

Penelope clicked her tongue.

“Careful Liz, remember who our director is.”

Lizzie rolled her eyes.

Kol flicked his eyes between them a couple of times nervously, and then cleared his throat.

“Well, we can’t start until our lead is here, so why don’t the two of you go looking for her. And try and find my runaway niece whilst you’re at it.”

Lizzie and Penelope both spluttered, trying to come up with an excuse as to why they shouldn’t have to go together, but he just waved his hand at them.

“Off you go. The sooner the better, preferably.”

Penelope stalked out of the room, not even pretending to wait for Lizzie. She got outside of the room, and then started to consider her options. She could call Hope again, call Josie, or search every room in the school until she found them.

Preferably alive. 

“What is your problem?” Lizzie yelled, suddenly appearing right next to Penelope’s ear. Penelope flinched and stepped away.

“Anyone ever teach you about personal space Elizabeth?”

“Anyone ever teach you to not break hearts Satan?”

Penelope scoffed.

“As much as I loved it when you pretended to be the third part of me and Josie’s relationship, I’m going to have to ask you to stop bringing it up.”

Lizzie folded her arms across her chest. Penelope accepted the possibility that Hope and Josie would be lost forever because her and Lizzie couldn’t make it through a conversation without arguing.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lizzie snapped.

Penelope shook her head.

“I’m not having this conversation with you right now.”

“What conversation? The conversation about how you broke my sister’s heart like you weren’t one of the most important people in the world to her?”

Penelope had to look down at the ground, because she knew that not even her amazing acting skills could hide the pain in her eyes at those words. She knew it was true, because she still remembered sitting with Josie, and Josie telling her that Penelope was her favorite person.

And then adding with a laugh that she shouldn’t tell Lizzie, otherwise Penelope would be dead.

Penelope had laughed along with her, and had told Josie that she was Penelope’s favorite too. And Josie had given her a little smile, so soft and vulnerable, and Penelope had kissed her.

Penelope had given that up. Penelope had broken that.

She deserved every word that Lizzie was ever going to say to her and she knew it. But that didn't mean she had to be happy about it.

“Can’t even look me in the eyes huh? I guess you really are a coward. I should have known from the minute that you two started dating that it was doomed. You guys were fine and then you fucked it all up with feelings. Why would you even do that?”

Penelope snapped her head back up and stepped towards Lizzie angrily.

“Don’t push your feelings onto me because you can’t handle them.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Right. Because Josie and I are the only ones out of our little group who caught feelings for each other.”

It was Lizzie’s turn to look away, and Penelope knew she’d struck a nerve. And, for what may have been the first time in her life, she backed off. Maybe the past few encounters with Josie had taught her something about pushing. 

She stepped back and sighed.

“This is stupid, come on.” She turned away and started walking.

“Where are you going?” Lizzie called after her.

Penelope stopped. Somehow, when they’d been arguing her brain had figured out where Hope and Josie probably were. 

“Where is the one place that Hope and Josie would both go for peace and quiet and then get distracted?” 

“…the music room,” Lizzie answered slowly. 

Penelope nodded.

“You think that they’re together?” Penelope noted that Lizzie sounded just a little insecure about that thought. Which was stupid on so many levels, but Penelope didn’t have time to address that.

Penelope sighed.

“It’s the only thing I can think of, and there’s only one way to check.” She waited for a moment, and then Lizzie started walking.

The two of them made their way to the music room in silence, mostly because there weren’t any other words that they had to say to the other. Or, more accurately, there were no words that they could find it in themselves to say.

Lizzie and Penelope’s friendship had always been a little strange. They were definitely each other’s last choice for company, and when they were together, they usually just playfully argued with each other. There’d always been a little bit of tension, as Lizzie had never quite gotten used to someone else having Josie’s attention, but they’d learnt how to tolerate each other.

And then Penelope had started taking up more and more of Josie’s time, and even though Lizzie had Hope, Penelope knew that she’d felt left out. Penelope understood that, they were siblings, and they’d always been important to each other. But what she hadn’t been okay with was the way that Lizzie started dragging Josie down.

As they approached the music room, Penelope became aware that music was coming from it. Not exactly a surprising discovery, but what was surprising was that Penelope recognized the voices. 

It was Hope singing. Penelope didn’t recognize the song, but it sounded beautiful.

Lizzie seemed to also have come to this realization, because her steps started to slow, and her mouth opened just a little.

“Is that…” she trailed off as they came to the open door. They both walked in, and just stood there, staring at the scene in front of them.

Hope and Josie were both sitting at the piano, with Hope playing, and Josie bobbing her head to the tune. 

Penelope was about to open her mouth to say something, but then Josie started singing and Penelope actually felt butterflies in her stomach. She sounded just as beautiful as she always did, but in her words, there was this other layer of emotion that wanted to rip Penelope’s heart out. 

“Feels like I might’ve broke the best thing that I had, said too much to ever take it back. Scared I’ll never find something as good, and would I even know it if I could?”

She sounded so heartbroken, like every single word was taking something out of her, like every word had been perfectly crafted to express her emotions. 

Penelope wondered if this was how Josie really felt. If she felt like she’d broken her relationship with Penelope, felt like it was all her fault. Because if so, Penelope needed to say something. It didn’t matter if Josie hated her, Penelope could take that, but she couldn’t have Josie hating herself over this breakup.

Hope and Josie started singing what was presumably the chorus, and Penelope was struck by how beautiful their voices sounded together. She remembered the days when they’d sung the songs that they wrote together, remembered annoying them as they tried to focus.

She was so lost in the memory of happier times, and in the way that Josie’s voice sounded so angelic, that she barely realized that they’d finished.

It was only when Lizzie cleared her throat that she came back to reality. Josie and Hope both turned, and somehow, Josie’s eyes found hers first. It felt like Penelope was under a spell, she just simply couldn’t look away from Josie. Maybe Josie was a siren of the old myths, singing beautifully to capture hearts and then drag them to certain death. That would explain a lot. 

“What are you guys doing here?” Hope stuttered out. For a moment, both her and Lizzie just stared, both probably a little shaken by what they’d just seen. Penelope came to her senses first.

“You’re late for rehearsal. Kol sent us to find you.”

Hope and Josie both blushed, and Hope immediately started packing up. Josie stood.

“I’d better get going.” She walked past Penelope, not looking up once. Penelope looked to Lizzie, who was taking a tentative step towards Hope, who had just dropped a stack of pages, and decided that they might need a moment. A moment which hopefully pushed Hope just a little bit out of the weird zone that she was stuck in right now.

Which meant that Penelope should go after Josie. 

And maybe talk to her, like actually talk to her for once.

+++

“Josie!” Penelope called out, as she chased Josie down the hallway. Josie stopped and turned to Penelope, avoiding her eyes.

“What? I’m going to rehearsal, you know, the thing that we’re late for?” She rose an eyebrow as Penelope stopped in front of her.

Penelope gestured behind her awkwardly.

“What was that?”

Josie shrugged, fiddling with the end of her jacket.

“Hope and I were singing a song that she wrote for the play.”

Penelope was a little surprised to find out that Hope had been writing a song and hadn’t told her, but she figured that she was probably doing the thing where she protected it with her life until she was perfect. A classic Hope move.

Penelope nodded.

“Right.” She gave Josie a little smile. “You both sounded really nice.”

Josie looked a little stunned at that, and her eyes finally rose to meet Penelope's.

“Oh…thanks,” she said, just a little awkwardly.

For a moment, they just stared at each other silently. Then they both opened their mouths to speak at the same time.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry for yelling—wait what?” Josie frowned at Penelope, who blushed.

“I’m sorry for being a dick yesterday. You’ve made your boundaries clear, and I stepped over them,” Penelope told her. 

Josie stared at Penelope, blinking a couple of times.

“Oh. Um, thanks for apologizing. Although, I also have to apologize, I shouldn’t have yelled at you in front of everyone. Especially after we decided to be professional.”

Penelope nodded, and then gave Josie a grin.

“It’s nothing I didn’t deserve.”

Josie seemed hesitant about it, but she gave Penelope a small smile back. It had been so long since Josie’s smile had been directed at her that Penelope almost wanted to cry.

“Look, I know that you hate me, but how about we promise to be civil? I don’t annoy you; you don’t yell at me. We just exist in each other’s space, and do this production justice,” Penelope suggested.

Josie nodded slowly.

“That…that sounds good.” She frowned. “Why?”

Penelope shrugged.

“I guess you yelling at me sort of forced me to realize that something needed to change if we wanted this to go well. And you deserve for this to go well. This is your big moment Jojo, I know how long you’ve been waiting for this.” Penelope winced, just slightly when she realized that she’d called Josie by her nickname. She hadn’t meant to; it had just slipped out.

Josie looked surprised, and Penelope immediately apologized.

“Sorry, I just meant…” she frowned, inwardly kicking herself. This was her chance to make Josie not hate her and she was screwing it up. Why was she not surprised?

Josie just shook her head lightly.

“It’s okay. You’re right. I have wanted this for a long time. And I know that there’s no one better than you when it comes to being a charismatic lead so…” she gave Penelope another small smile, one that seemed more genuine than the last, “I guess I can put up with you.”

Penelope beamed at Josie, so wide it was probably going to leave cracks in her face. She knew it was stupid and she was meant to be pretending that she didn’t have very very strong feelings for Josie, but it was just so hard to do.

Footsteps sounded at the end of the hall and both of them turned to see Jade rounding the corner. When she saw the two of them, she stopped, eyes flicking between them. Her eyes narrowed, as if she’d caught them in a suspicious position.

Penelope almost wanted to laugh. Jade’s jealousy and suspicion was going to get her nowhere. Especially since Josie pretty much wanted nothing to do with Penelope.

“Kol was getting impatient and he sent me to get you guys.” She looked between them again. “What were you doing?”

Josie shrugged.

“We were just talking.” She cleared her throat and looked back at Penelope. “We should get back. I don’t want Kol literally tearing our heads off.”

Another pair of footsteps came down the other side of the hall and they all turned to see Lizzie and Hope walking down. Penelope frowned when she realized that they didn’t seem to be ripping each other’s hair out. They looked…like friends?

Penelope searched Hope’s face for an answer, and Hope mouthed at her ‘later’. 

Penelope nodded and started walking back to the theatre. It seemed that her and Josie weren’t the only ones who had made a possible breakthrough.

When they entered the room, Kol started going off at them about punctuality and how a theatre could only succeed if all the actors were committed to the play. Penelope mostly just smiled and nodded.

Halfway through, her eyes caught Josie’s. She expected Josie to look away, to lean into Jade, or to frown. But Josie held her gaze, and offered Penelope the smallest of smiles.

Penelope knew then that she’d made the right decision in staying in the play. 

She smiled back, and tuned back into Kol’s monologue with a brightness in her heart that she hadn’t felt in months.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, they're going to be civil. I wasn't kidding when I said this was a slow burn, so buckle up, this is only the first step out of many!  
> Also, to all my Hizzie lovers, you guys are getting a Hope POV chapter up next, where you'll get to see why Lizzie and Hope were fighting! So, be excited for that one!   
> Again, I just wanted to remind everyone to keep signing petitions to help the Black Lives Matter movement, and, if you can't donate money yourself, there are some great videos on YouTube that are donating all money from ad revenue to relevant causes! Just wanted to remind you, because it's an important topic!  
> Also, can't believe I nearly forgot, Happy Pride Month to all my fellow LGBTQ+ memebers out there! I hope that you're all safe and healthy!   
> Alright, I think that's all I wanted to say. Until next time guys!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Fun fact, I was worried about not being able to post this in time, because my WiFi was bugging out on me, but it cleared up, and so you guys get an update! As promised, it's the Hope Chapter, and you'll finally get the Hizzie content you've been waiting for!  
> Enjoy!

This whole situation was an actual, certifiable, goddamn garbage fire. That was Hope Mikaelson’s very professional opinion on the whole situation. 

It wasn’t like she’d never had to deal with relationship drama before. There was the whole thing with Lizzie and Raf that she’d had to weather, plus that time when Landon had had a crush on her and she’d had to let him know that she wasn’t interested. And of course, whatever had happened with Roman last year. 

Ugh, dating a guy in the year above you was a terrible idea. If her and Josie were still talking, Hope definitely would have warned her against it. Told her that the grade above them was pretty terrible, and that maybe the Jade thing was a bad idea.

But her and Josie were not talking right now. Because everything had gone to shit over the summer and now Hope was left with so many pieces, all of which did not want to co-operate.

So, to recap. Penelope and Josie had been dating. And not the ‘you feel obligated to date them because you’ve known them forever’ type thing. There had been crushing, and pining, and so many cute dates, and Hope had started thinking that she might need to start picking out a bridesmaid dress, and staking a claim on their first baby to get named after her.

And then Lizzie had called her, freaking out, telling her that Penelope had just broken up with Josie, and everything was terrible. At first, Hope had just been surprised that Lizzie was calling her, because Lizzie had been strangely distant the past few weeks. Once her words had sunk in, Hope had just been mad at Penelope, so she'd rushed over to her house to yell at her. 

But then she’d seen the state of Penelope, and she realized that there was a lot more to this breakup than anyone else saw. Was Penelope still an idiot, and should she have just communicated with Josie instead of lying to her and breaking her heart? Yes, one hundred percent. But Hope got it. She understood loving someone so much that you’d do anything for them, understood loving someone so much that it made you physically hurt. 

She knew what it meant to love someone so much that you were willing to set aside your own happiness, just so that they could get a shot at it. Even if Hope knew that Penelope was Josie’s happiness. The two of them just needed time to realize that for themselves.

Hope had her own love life issues to deal with.

Because when she’d gone over to Josie’s house to talk to her, that had ended in a fight. Hope very much regretted what she had said to Josie, but in her defense, hearing that Lizzie knew about her soul crushing, heart breaking, mind melting feelings for her made Hope act out a little.

She’d never counted on Lizzie finding out. She figured that Lizzie was straight, because she’d never really mentioned ever liking girls, and even if she did, Hope figured that she’d never go for her. So, she’d boxed up her feelings and dealt with it.

She’d helped Lizzie through her breakup with Raf. She’d listened as Lizzie told her about impulsively making out with Sebastian, the foreign exchange student from England. She’d held Lizzie when he’d left after telling her that he wanted nothing to do with her.

Hope had been the best friend that Lizzie had needed, and she’d never once expected that she’d be more. Because Lizzie mattered more than her stupid feelings.

And Hope had wrecked it the moment Lizzie had stepped outside that night. She’d still been fired up from the fight, and Lizzie had pushed. And then everything had broken.

\---  
 _  
“Hope, what the hell just happened?” Lizzie called out, and Hope slowed her steps away from the house._

_“Lizzie, I’m not in the mood to talk right now. Just go ask Josie.”_

_“It can’t have been that bad. Besides, I’m your best friend, you can tell me anything.” Hope should’ve known that Lizzie would be stubborn about this. She was stubborn about everything. Usually, it was a trait that Hope found endearing. But right now, she was just tired._

_“Not this.”_

_“What did she say to you? Because clearly she said something.”_

_Hope clenched her eyes shut, praying that somehow it would stop the tears that she could feel pressing against her eyelids._

_“It doesn’t matter.”_

_“It does.”_

_“Lizzie, just please let it go.”_

_She heard Lizzie take another step towards her, but kept her back turned and her eyes firmly shut._

_“You can’t shut me out Hope. I’m your best friend Hope, I want to help.”_

_Hope could’ve just hopped in her car and driven back to her house where she could curl up into a ball and cry. But she’d never been able to leave Lizzie. Not even when everything in her screamed for her to do so._

_“I don’t know if you can help me with this,” she whispered. She could feel the words rising in her throat, the question that she needed to ask pressing against her lips, and she hoped that Lizzie would leave it alone, so that the question could go unsaid._

_“Hope, please,” Lizzie asked, and the tone in her voice was so soft and caring that Hope just couldn’t take it anymore._

_“How long?” She whispered, barely loud enough for Lizzie to hear. But she knew that she did._

_“…What?” Lizzie asked, her voice just shaky enough that Hope knew that she suspected what Hope meant._

_Hope turned around, opening her eyes. She saw Lizzie for the first time that afternoon, took in her flowing blonde hair, her shining blue eyes. She was so beautiful. Hope didn’t want to ruin Lizzie, especially not when she looked like this, but she knew that this conversation would. And yet she asked again._

_“How long have you known?”_

_“Known about what?”_

_“Lizzie, please,” Hope’s voice shook with emotion, and she could feel her nails slicing into her palm. The silence stretched, and Hope watched as Lizzie realized that this conversation was really happening._

_Hope waited for Lizzie to open her mouth and break her heart. Because really, wasn’t that what she’d been waiting for this whole time?_

_“I think maybe I’ve always known. I just didn’t want to deal with what it meant for us.”_

_Hope nodded. It hurt, knowing that Lizzie had seen straight through her, but she supposed it was to be expected. They couldn’t all be oblivious idiots like Penelope and Josie._

_“Right.”_

_Lizzie took a step forward._

_“Hope—"_

_Hope rose her hand, stopping Lizzie’s words from falling out, stopping her from getting any closer._

_“I need to ask. I need to know. Do you feel anything towards me? Because if we’re finally going to address it, I need to know so that I can either move on or…” she trailed off and just waved her hand in the air._

_Lizzie looked away, biting her lip. Hope knew what answer she was getting, she’d always known, she just needed to hear it. Just needed Lizzie to break her heart so that Hope could finally stop loving her._

_“Hope, I don’t know how to answer that.”_

_Hope shook her head._

_“Lizzie, it’s a simple question. Do you have feelings for me or not?” Hope stared at Lizzie, waiting, and waiting, and waiting. It felt like she was standing there, holding her heart right out in front of Lizzie, just begging her to crush it._

_Lizzie shook her head._

_“I... I don’t know.”_

_Hope nearly growled out of frustration._

_“That’s not an answer,” Hope snapped._

_Lizzie finally looked back at her, eyes going hard._

_“You mean it’s not the answer that you want.”_

_Hope laughed, feeling like every part of her body was being burnt, like Lizzie was the sun and she’d moved too close this one time._

_“Lizzie, I don’t care if you don’t have feelings for me. I’d accept it if you didn’t. I just want you to tell me so I can do something about it.”_

_Lizzie shook her head, not moving her eyes from Hope._

_“And I’m telling you that I don’t know.”_

_“That’s a bullshit answer!” Hope didn’t mean to yell, but it felt like the words were exploding out of her. She couldn't wait any longer for this answer, every part of her was screaming out now._

_Lizzie laughed bitterly._

_“So, when Penelope’s all shut up about her feelings all the time, it’s okay, but when I can’t tell you this one thing, it’s suddenly a problem?”_

_Hope had no idea how Lizzie had suddenly pulled Penelope into this conversation about them, but she had, and now Hope felt like she was spinning wildly out of control._

_“This is not remotely the same situation,” she told Lizzie. Lizzie just looked away, and that was when Hope realized that she wasn’t going to get an answer out of Lizzie. That was when she realized that this would only end in hurt._

_“You’re a hypocrite,” Lizzie spat out._

_“I am not.”_

_“Penelope broke my sister’s heart, and you know it, but then you have one chat with her, and it’s all okay. That’s a shitty move and you know it.”_

_Hope shook her head, stepping toward Lizzie._

_“Stop deflecting.”_

_“Stop taking Penelope’s side.”_

_Hope felt something inside of her snap, and suddenly, just like with Josie, words that she’d never planned on seeing the light of day were spilling out._

_“You know, only you would be selfish enough to make your sister’s breakup about yourself.”_

_“What did you just say?” Lizzie whispered, low and harsh. Hope should’ve stopped there, but apparently today was the day for ruining friendships._

_“You heard what I said. Penelope’s right, you’re so selfish, all the time, and sometimes it really makes me wonder…” she trailed off as her mind caught up to her words and stopped her._

_Hope wanted to pull the words that had already been said back, to turn back the clock, but she couldn’t. All she could do was stare at the hurt in Lizzie’s eyes and know that she couldn’t fix that._

_“Finish that sentence,” Lizzie demanded, eyes and voice colder than ice._

_Hope shook her head._

_“Lizzie—”_

_“Finish the fucking sentence Hope Mikaelson,” Lizzie growled, and Hope didn’t miss the way that her eyes were already starting to shine. Hope knew that she had to say it._

_“Sometimes I wonder if it’s really worth it.” Hope didn’t say it, but they both heard the underlying meaning._

_Sometimes I wonder if loving you is worth it._

_Lizzie stepped back, a tear falling down her face the only indication that she’d been affected by Hope’s words. The rest of her was just still, and quiet, even though Hope could see a thousand storms in her eyes._

_“Well, it’s good to know what you really think.”_

_Hope stepped forwards and reached out._

_“Lizzie I—”_

_Lizzie physically flinched back, glaring at Hope like she was the worst person to exist._

_“Lizzie please,” Hope tried again, but Lizzie cut her off._

_“No. It’s my turn now. I may be selfish, but at least I’m not the shut off loner who lies to everyone and pretends to be perfect to hide the fact that she’s a pathetic bitch who no one wants.”_

_The words hurt, they really did, but Hope knew that Lizzie was just hurt, and even though it felt like her heart was bleeding out of her chest, she couldn’t help but try one more time._

_“Lizzie, I’m sorry.”_

_Lizzie shook her head._

_“But you still said it.” She laughed bitterly, tears rolling down her face freely now. “You want an answer so badly Hope? I’m not going to choose you, because I don’t want to be with someone like you.”_

_And like that Hope stopped. She stopped, frozen, letting the words soak into her. Lizzie didn’t want her. She’d expected that maybe her feelings would just fade away, that after finally hearing the words, she could be free._

_But she wasn’t. Because even though she was hurting more than she thought was possible, she still loved Lizzie with every part of her. And that was how she knew that she was well and truly fucked._

_Lizzie just stared at her, seemingly unaware of the storm in Hope's mind._

_"Although, if you think I'm a selfish bitch who isn't worth it, than moving on from me shouldn't be all that hard."_

_Hope wanted to scream that she didn't think that, wanted to tell Lizzie all of the wonderful things about her that only Hope saw. But she didn't. Because Lizzie wouldn't listen, couldn't listen. So, she remained silent._

_Lizzie turned around and all but marched back inside, leaving Hope outside in the burning sun, wishing that she’d just melt into the pavement. Wishing that the hurt would stop._

_But it didn’t._

_And she didn’t know if it ever would._  
  
\---

So, yeah, that’d been pretty much the worst day of Hope’s life. She’d lost two of her best friends in one sweep, and as an added bonus, got her heart broken by a girl she was pretty sure she’d always love.

She’d healed, just a little, mostly with Penelope’s help. The two of them had been able to be sad about their respective love lives together, and they’d passed many a night talking about what they wished they were doing.

Hope knew that Penelope regretted her choice every single day. But she also knew that Penelope wasn’t going to take it back. She’d already convinced herself that Josie was better off without her, and had already convinced herself that she was the villain. Hope wanted to help her, but she knew that there really wasn’t much that she could do about it. Besides, it was for the best. The two of them needed time to grow. They'd find each other again. They always would.

School had started, and Hope had had to deal with the awkward moments, and all the longing stares between everyone. She knew that Josie had been staring at Penelope every chance she got, but she’d also noticed Lizzie staring at her. Hope didn't know why, didn't know how Lizzie felt about all this, if her heart ached even a fraction as much as Hope's did. 

The play had started and Hope had finally got to spend time with her Uncle Kol. He’d been gone for as long as she could remember, always off, looking for an adventure. When it came to news of him, there was always an article about a play he’d starred in whilst in Italy, or a party he’d had in New Orleans. She knew her family missed him, but her father had once told her that Kol was the wild one out of their siblings, and no one could keep him in one place for long.

So, him taking a role at her school as a drama teacher was an interesting turn of events. He had his own place, but still came by to visit the rest of his family occasionally. Hope actually had conversations with him, and she had to admit, she liked him. He wasn’t the calm advice giver that Uncle Elijah was, nor was he like Aunt Freya or Rebekah, but maybe that was okay. He told Hope stories, told her ‘secrets’, ones that she had to swear not to tell the rest of the family.

It was nice seeing him interact with her friends. She could tell that Penelope liked him, and vice versa. Kol had told her, in confidence, of course, that he liked Penelope’s unpredictability, and thought that she brought excitement to the play. Hope would never tell Penelope that, because she would get way too much of a big head. 

She’d also talked to him about Josie and Lizzie. He liked Josie, thought that she had a lot of talent, and wouldn’t stop pestering Hope about what had gone down between her and Penelope. Hope had so far resisted and said nothing. Lizzie on the other hand, he had stayed mostly quiet on, only saying that he thought she was a nice girl. Hope thought that her uncle was too observant for his own good when it came to her relationships. Seriously, he’d been at the school for less than a month, and somehow, he was already putting pieces together that it had taken Hope herself many years to figure out.

When he’d given her the task of coming up with a song for her character, Hope had been both happy and also a little bit sad. Happy because, hey, her uncle wanted her to write a song for their production, and she could finally whip out some ideas she’d been keeping stored up, but sad, because song writing had usually been a her and Josie thing. It was one of the few things that only they shared.

Penelope was a great singer and actor, but she didn’t really like coming up with the songs. Hope knew that she had ideas, but she’d always preferred for that to be Josie’s area. Lizzie liked expressing her creativity through hair and makeup, rather than writing something down. As much as Hope thought the world of Lizzie, she had to admit that the blonde didn’t really have a way with words.

Writing a song about regrets was probably one of the easiest things that Hope had ever done. Between Lizzie and Josie, there was a lot of regret to be passed around. She’d considered telling Penelope about her project, knowing that she’d definitely have some ideas for lyrics about regret, but she felt like this was something that she wanted to do on her own. 

And then Josie had walked back into her life, so nervous and unsure, but kind, nonetheless. Hope honestly would expect nothing less from Josie. That was just how she was. 

She stumbled through an apology, but Hope could tell that she meant every word, and that she was regretting her words on that night as much as Hope was. Hope could have rejected the apology, could have held a grudge, but really, she missed Josie too much for that.

So, she let Josie sit next to her and suddenly they were writing lyrics like no time had passed at all. They worked so flawlessly, the words just flowing out, and every one felt right. When Josie told her that she regretted telling Penelope that she loved her, Hope’s heart hurt for her. Hope wanted to be mad at one of them, but she knew it wasn’t really either side’s fault.

If you placed the blame solely on Penelope, you were ignoring how Josie let herself be consumed by others, and how Penelope had felt ignored. If you placed the blame solely on Josie though, you were neglecting that Penelope didn’t communicate her problems properly, and the fact that she’d literally broken Josie’s heart. Both of them had fucked up, and it was up to both of them to fix it.

Had Hope lost track of time, leading to Penelope and Lizzie walking in on them literally in the middle of a duet that was lowkey about them? Yeah, but in her defense, she’d been so swept up in having her friend back that she’d forgotten all about rehearsals. 

Josie had been out of the room like a shot, and Penelope followed not long after, probably to go chase her and talk to her. For the sake of both of them, Hope hoped that they could at least come to an agreement to be civil. 

Lizzie had stayed in the room. Hope didn’t want to know what that meant, so she just kept packing up, very pointedly ignoring her presence in the room.

She thought that maybe she might be able to make a swift exit, but then Lizzie spoke.

“That was beautiful.”

Hope shrugged, not turning around.

“Yeah, it’s just a little something I’ve been working on. Josie helped me finish it up. It just needs a little polishing to be good for the play. That’s why I wrote it, Kol asked me to write a song, so I did.” Hope knew that she was rambling, but she also knew that not doing so would mean having to focus on everything that was between them, and she really didn’t want to do that.

“It’s really good. You’re really good. I’ve always known that, but this really just proves it.”

Hope let herself smile at hearing that. She’d always found compliments from Lizzie to be the best way to feel validated. If Lizzie didn’t like something, she’d tell you, no matter how many feelings got hurt. So, if you told you that she liked something, that held weight. 

“Yeah, thanks,” Hope mumbled, pulling her bag over her shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” Lizzie blurted out. Hope froze for a moment, and then slowly turned to face her. They hadn't been this close in a room since before their fight. Unless you counted the awkward hand holding in the read through, which Hope would like to just forget. Even if Lizzie's hand was really nice and soft. 

“What?” She asked, a little unsure that she’d heard Lizzie properly. Lizzie took a step towards her.

“I’m sorry, for everything. I don’t think that stuff about you, and I’m sorry for hurting you like that.”

Hope frowned.

“What changed? Because these past few weeks you’ve been glaring at me almost nonstop. So, why apologize now?” Hope could’ve just taken the apology like she had with Josie, but it was different with Lizzie. Lizzie had looked at Hope's heart, open and on display, and had crushed it to the ground. 

Lizzie sighed and looked down at the ground. Hope folded her arms and waited for an answer, not allowing herself to hope that this meant anything for them.

“I’m sorry for treating you like that. You didn’t do anything wrong, and I acted like you were a villain. I just wanted to hate you, because if I didn’t, I’d just hate myself, and well, we both know that I’m too selfish to allow myself to actually take responsibility.” 

Hope felt her heart soften a little bit at that.

“You’re wrong. You aren’t selfish.”

Lizzie shook her head.

“Hope, don’t. Just don’t. We both know that I’m selfish, it’s my whole deal. It’s okay, I’ve accepted it, and well, I don’t know, I’m trying to be better.”

Hope smiled and stepped towards Lizzie.

“That’s good to hear Lizzie. And while maybe you do have your selfish moments, I had no right to use that against you like that.”

“You were hurting. It’s okay, I understand.”

Hope sighed.

“It doesn’t make it okay.”

Lizzie didn’t say anything to that. She just kept staring at the ground.

“I accept your apology,” Hope finally said. 

Lizzie finally looked up, something akin to surprise in her eyes.

“You do?”

Hope nodded.

“We both said some things that we shouldn’t have. I understand. And I miss my best friend,” Hope confessed.

“Really?”

Hope hated how small Lizzie’s voice was, how unsure she seemed, as if she thought that Hope wouldn’t miss her, somehow. As if she wasn’t Hope’s sky and stars, as if she wasn’t the person that Hope got up every day to see.

Hope laughed gently.

“Of course, I missed you. How could I not?”

Lizzie shrugged.

“I just thought you might hate me forever.”

Hope shook her head, laughing.

“Sorry to disappoint but you’re stuck with me.”

Lizzie smiled at her, just a little bit. Then her smile faded, and Hope braced herself for whatever Lizzie had to say next.

“What is it?” She asked.

Lizzie chewed her lip and then sighed.

“Do you…do you still have feelings for me?”

Oh.

Right.

Hope was faced with a choice here. Because the truth, obviously, was that she was still very much in love with Lizzie. But did Lizzie have to know that? If their previous argument had proved anything, it was that Lizzie knowing about Hope’s feelings was not a good thing. And even if Lizzie had figured it out last time, surely Hope could be better at hiding it this time around. She could even focus on moving on from her. 

Besides, she really didn’t want to deal with the embarrassment of being rejected. Again. 

So, she shook her head.

“No. I got over them during the summer. I figured there was really no point in wanting someone who not only hated me at the time, but had made it very clear that they didn’t want me back.” 

Lizzie only nodded at this, a look in her eye that Hope could not identify. It was probably relief, Hope decided. Lizzie was glad that Hope didn’t have feelings for her, because it meant that she didn’t have to let her down easy.

“Okay. So, friends?” Lizzie asked quietly. Again, Hope wondered how she could even be a little unsure about that. Of course, Hope still wanted to be friends with her again. It was basically all that she’d thought about over the summer.

Along with those stupid daydreams during the quiet moments, where she wondered what life would be like with Lizzie as her girlfriend. But Lizzie didn’t need to know about that. Lizzie didn’t need to be uncomfortable, and Hope just really wanted her friend back.

“Friends sounds pretty great to me,” Hope agreed, nodding her head probably a little too enthusiastically. For a moment they just looked at each other with easy smiles, glad to finally be in each other’s presence. Then Lizzie blushed and looked away.

“We should go, Kol’s going to be mad at us if we stay away any longer.”

Hope nodded, and the two of them headed out of the room. When they turned a corner, they found Jade, Josie, and Penelope, all looking at Lizzie and Hope.

Hope flicked her eyes between them, and saw that Josie and Penelope looked somehow lighter in a way that they hadn’t in a while. She supposed that meant that their talk had gone well. Jade on the other hand, looked tense, and her gaze was already darting between Josie and Penelope with suspicion. Hope almost felt bad for her, considering that Josie was definitely going to break her heart at some point.

It was so funny. Josie was this quiet girl, who smiled and wanted to make everyone feel happy, but she could cause so much pain, even when she didn’t mean to. Both Hope and Penelope already knew this, and no doubt Jade would soon enough. Because no matter how much Josie wanted to love Jade, her heart still belonged to Penelope, and probably always would.

Penelope looked at Hope questioningly, and Hope just mouthed ‘later’ at her. Penelope nodded and turned to walk towards the theatre. They all followed, and they all received a fair berating from Kol, although it seemed that Penelope and Josie got the brunt of it. Lizzie and her just exchanged a glance and grinned, before going to their separate friend groups.

Landon grinned at her.

“What was that?”

Hope shrugged, trying to fight her smile.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“So, you weren’t just talking to Lizzie Saltzman, the girl who you’re pretty much in love with?”

Hope slapped him lightly.

“Keep your voice down idiot. We’re just friends, and as far as she knows, I got over my feelings for her during the summer.”

He stared at her.

“You’re kidding, right?” 

Hope just looked at him. He sighed.

“Hope, you’ve been in love with her as long as I’ve known you. Why do you keep fighting it?” He asked, confusion plain in his voice. Hope turned back to look at Lizzie who was smiling brightly at MG as he told a joke.

“Because sometimes you love someone so much, that you’re willing to let them go.” 

Landon snorted.

“And you have the audacity to mock Penelope.”

Hope just slapped him and kept staring at Lizzie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Hope and Lizzie are going to be friends. As I always say, there clearly won't be any problems with that.   
> I would like to thank everyone who comments and kudos's this fic, because it makes me happy to know that people actually enjoy the things I write! I know my updating isn't always the most consistent, but hey, life is crazy, and thanks to you guys for being understanding and for continuing to read!  
> Next chapter is back to Josie's POV, and I won't lie, it's basically just Hope, Lizzie, and Josie being dumbass friends. With maybe a little bit of foreshadowing for future plot points...  
> Anyways, I'll probably see you guys at the end of the week, maybe later, because I have so many assignments to do, so wish me luck!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! It's ya boi and she is back with another chapter! Unfortunately, there is no Posie interaction, but Josie does think about Penelope a lot, so there is that!  
> Enjoy!

That rehearsal was probably the best one they’d had since the beginning of the play. This was probably due to Josie finally being willing to make eye contact with Penelope and even to be close to her. 

Penelope’s performance also seemed to have improved somehow. Like she actually was putting in effort, as if she’d finally decided to fully commit to the play. And maybe it was the fact that she was keeping her flirting strictly to the stage, when they were in character, but Josie found her way more tolerable. 

When she saw Hope and Lizzie talking and laughing about something, Josie made a mental note to find out what was going on between them. She wondered how they were navigating the whole ‘Hope has a crush on Lizzie, but Lizzie doesn’t know how to handle feelings properly, so she rejected Hope’ thing. 

Hopefully, better than the last time around.

When rehearsals wrapped up, Hope and Lizzie were still talking, so Josie went over to them.

“So, can we finally be in the same room without ignoring each other now?” She asked them with a grin. Hope and Lizzie smiled at each other, and then at Josie.

“Yeah. We talked and we realized that we were being stupid and we should be friends again,” Hope explained. Lizzie nodded.

“We both apologized for the various things that were said, and I’m assuming that you and Hope did the same, judging by your musical performance earlier,” Lizzie asked. 

Josie nodded.

“Yeah, we did.” She grinned at them. “This is great, I’ve missed hanging out with you so much Hope.” 

Hope smiled at Josie.

“I’ve missed both of you so much.” Josie noticed the pain in her voice, and wondered what her summer had been like, wondered if she’d spent all of it wishing that she could be with her friends. At least she’d had Penelope. 

Lizzie sighed.

“That settles it. We’re having a sleepover tonight. Hope, call whichever of your relatives is most important in your life at this time and tell them that you’re staying at our tonight.”

Hope laughed.

“Okay, I’ll call my mum then. What about your mums?”

Lizzie waved her hand dismissively.

“Please. They’ve been wanting you back in the house ever since you left. As if they’ll say no.”

Hope laughed, and pulled out her phone. Josie remembered at this moment that she had a girlfriend, one that she should probably talk to. Especially considering that Jade had walked in on her and Penelope talking.

Josie and Penelope talking wasn’t really anything scandalous, but well, Josie had figured out pretty quickly that Jade was jealous of Penelope, so it would be best to sway her fears. Penelope just wanted to be civil with Josie because of the play, that was all. She didn’t want to get back with Josie, so Jade shouldn’t be worried. 

And also, maybe Josie should tell Jade that she didn’t really like it when people were overly jealous. She wasn’t an object; she was her own person and she could be trusted. Penelope had been a little bit jealous at first, but she’d quickly realized that Josie didn’t like it, and had tried her best to fix it.

Okay, her brain needed to stop relating every train of thought back to Penelope. She needed to look for Jade. 

She scanned the room, and frowned when she realized that Jade was already gone. That was weird, usually Jade hung around so that she could give Josie a goodbye kiss. Maybe she’d needed to get home quick.

Or maybe she was mad at Josie.

Either way, Josie felt a little bad. She should’ve paid more attention to her girlfriend, could’ve maybe caught her just before she left. 

Josie reached for her phone, deciding that she should text Jade, try and start a conversation so that Jade didn’t slip away from her. Then she remembered that her phone wasn’t in her pocket, it was still in her bag where she’d left it.

Josie walked over to where her bag was lying, and unzipped it. She moved her water bottle and the jumper she’d brought just in case to the side, and frowned when she realized that her phone wasn’t in there. 

She tried to think if maybe she’d had her phone when she’d gone to the music room, but couldn’t remember pulling it out. The last she could remember was putting it in her bag after school, and then heading up to the music room.

“Josie, what are you looking for?” Hope called across the room. Josie turned back to her with a frown.

“My phone. I can’t find it in my bag.” 

Hope grew a frown to match Josie’s.

“Did you leave it in the music room?”

“I don’t think so. I didn’t take it out when I was up there, and it can’t have just magically teleported out of my bag.” Josie frowned, feeling panic rising through her. Her mums might actually kill her if they realized that her phone was missing. 

“Do you want me to call it for you?” Hope asked. Josie nodded, and they waited as Hope’s phone rung for at least ten seconds without hearing anything.

“Josie, Hope, what are you guys doing?” Lizzie asked.

“We’re looking for Jo’s phone.”

Lizzie looked at Josie.

“You lost your phone?”

“I didn’t lose it, I just misplaced it,” Josie argued.

“Our mums are going to kill you.”

“I am aware of that.”

Lizzie nodded solemnly, like she was already planning her speech for Josie’s funeral. Josie groaned and ran her fingers through her hair.

“Seriously, the first time things start going right in my life…” she trailed off and groaned again.

“Ladies, are we all good? I’m meant to be locking up the room,” Kol told them as he walked over.

“Josie can’t find her phone,” Hope explained to her uncle. He frowned.

“Did you have it on you during rehearsal?”

Josie shook her head.

“Of course not! I follow your rules, I kept it in my bag,” Josie said, feeling a little defensive. Kol just chuckled.

“Don’t worry darling, I’m not worried about that. I just hope that you’ll be able to find it.” He paused and grinned. “Speaking of hope,” he turned to Hope, “Do you want a ride back to the house?”

Hope rolled her eyes.

“Your jokes suck.”

“Insult my jokes one more time and I’ll make you walk home indefinitely.”

Hope sighed.

“Don’t worry about the ride. I’m going to be staying over at Lizzie and Josie’s. And yes, my parents know, so don’t worry about it.”

He nodded.

“Right, well, in any case, you girls should get going. Josie, I’m sure that you phone will turn up in lost and found tomorrow. You shouldn’t need it overnight though; my niece will be able to keep you plenty entertained.”

Josie wanted to argue that she needed her phone, because she needed to text Jade and make sure that she hadn’t already messed up. And maybe also because she liked scrolling through old pictures of Penelope before bed and reminiscing.

But both those points were irrelevant to Kol, and also a little too personal, so she just nodded.

He gave them a grin, and ushered them out of the drama room. They waved at them as he locked up and then walked out.

The three girls headed out of the school and towards Josie and Lizzie’s car. Lizzie jumped into the driver’s seat, and then patted the spot next to her.

“Hope, you get shotgun.”

Josie rolled her eyes as Hope’s face lit up.

“Wow, good to see that you love me,” Josie commented. 

Lizzie stuck her tongue out at Josie and Hope just grinned.

“Sorry Jo, but I am not giving up shotgun.”

Josie sighed and jumped into the back.

“Okay fine, but you guys better talk to me. I don’t have a phone to distract me today. And also,” she looked over at Lizzie. “Lizzie, can you please not tell our mums about the whole me losing my phone thing? Kol’s right, it’ll turn up in lost and found by tomorrow and I would really like it if they didn’t have to worry and get mad at me.”

Lizzie drummed her fingers on the wheel.

“What do I get in return?”

“I’ll lend you the nice sweater I have, the white one that you always whine about not having.”

Lizzie pondered that for a moment and then nodded.

“Deal. Your missing phone is officially a Forbes-Laughlin twin secret.” She looked at Hope. “And I suppose a Mikaelson secret too.”

Hope grinned.

“Honoured to be involved. Now, can we get out of here? Because as much as I love sitting here in this parking lot, I’d like getting to your house a lot more.”

Lizzie scoffed.

“For someone in shotgun, you are awfully snarky.”

“Hey, I missed your mums.” 

Lizzie rolled her eyes.

“Of course, because you’re the favourite child.”

Josie kicked Lizzie’s seat.

“I agree with Hope, let’s get moving.”

Lizzie glared at her.

“Do that again and you’re walking home.”

Josie just smiled innocently and Lizzie started the car up.

“Hope, you may play music, but if I hear any One Direction, Josie’s getting shotgun for the rest of our natural lives.”

+++

The car ride was filled with the bickering that had been a main part of the trio’s friendship since they’d met. Josie knew that she’d missed Hope, but she hadn’t realized just how much, and she hadn’t realized how right things felt with her back.

With that in mind, she had to admit to herself, it still felt a little weird without Penelope there, to tease Hope about something, or roll her eyes at Lizzie, or to give Josie one of those small smiles that was only meant for her.

It had been the four of them against the world. Josie loved Rafael and MG, but they’d only joined the group in middle school, and they weren’t anywhere near as close as the four girls were. And no one had been as close to Josie as Penelope was. Some days it had felt like not even Lizzie was that close to her. 

Josie knew that it was stupid, but she just missed her best friend. She missed the girl who knew her favorite flavor of everything, the girl who’d turn the volume up far too loud when she was driving and would scream along to songs, the girl who made Josie bracelets out of flowers, the girl who had always known just what to say or do to make Josie happy.

They’d been friends for so long, they had loved each other as friends for so long, and that was probably why their breakup had hurt so bad. Because Penelope had become a part of her, and suddenly that part of her had been torn out. 

Josie would like to say that she didn’t get it. She had said that, had told everyone that she didn’t understand why Penelope had broken her heart, had told everyone that she didn’t understand why Penelope was so willing to break everything over three little words.

Deep down, Josie knew that she was lying to herself. Deep down, she knew why Penelope had done it, and maybe Penelope had been right, maybe Hope had been right, and they had been falling apart. Penelope knew Josie better than anyone else, and Josie knew Penelope in the same way.

She knew that Penelope pretended to hate pop songs, but would blast them at three in the morning when she couldn’t sleep. She knew that Penelope told everyone that her favorite color was black, (like her soul, Penelope would always add), but it was actually purple. She knew that Penelope wanted to hate her mother for being so distant and still managing to put pressure on her, but all she really wanted was for her mother to say that she was proud.

And Josie had seen how much some of Lizzie’s comments hurt Penelope. The ones about how she was an unfeeling bitch, or the ones about her parents, or just the ones about how she wasn’t good enough for Josie. 

Josie knew that Lizzie hadn’t really meant anything by the comments, that Penelope knew how to bite back, but she also saw the look in Penelope’s eyes, just before she schooled her face into that sarcastic grin. She knew that Penelope was more hurt by a lot of things than she let on.

She knew that she'd messed up as well, that she'd been pulling away for weeks before they finally fell apart, that maybe, even though she'd been the one to say the words, she'd been just as scared of what it could mean. 

Josie didn’t know why it was in this car ride, listening to Hope and Lizzie trying to hit the high notes in You Belong With Me, that she was finally allowing herself to think about this. It was so stupid. She should be keeping up with that version of the story she’d been telling herself where Penelope was the worst person in the world, but Josie just couldn’t anymore.

There was just something about the look in Penelope’s eyes in the music room, the way she had said ‘Jojo’ so softly, like it still meant what it used to. And maybe, re-friending Hope had made her think about the fact that there had to be a reason that Hope was still on Penelope’s side.

Josie wasn’t stupid. She knew that Penelope had lied when she said that she only wanted to breakup because she didn’t think that she would ever love Josie. Like Josie said, she knew Penelope better than anyone. There had to be something else going on here.

Sure, maybe Penelope had fucked up. Majorly. But Josie couldn’t pretend that she hadn’t done that as well. She just wanted to know specifically what it was, wanted Penelope to tell her what is was that had hurt so much that she’d had to tear Josie’s heart out in retaliation. 

She was shaken out of her thoughts by Lizzie pulling into the driveway of their house. Josie was the first one out of the car, trying to get rid of lingering thoughts about Penelope. She was going to be spending time with Hope and Lizzie, and they were going to be friends, which was something she’d been hoping for the entire summer. 

Josie just had to try her best to ignore all the heart eyes that Lizzie and Hope would inevitably give each other. The same way she’d ignored them for the better part of ten years. 

As they walked through the front door, Josie heard her mum calling out to them.

“Hey girls! Mama is making soup right now, and she is not to be disturbed, so come into the living room.” 

The three girls walked in to find Josette on the couch watching one of her shows. She looked up with a smile, and then did a double take.

“Wait. Hope?” She stood up, looking at Hope as if she didn’t quite believe her eyes. Hope gave her a shy smile.

“Hey Mrs Forbes-Laughlin,” Hope said nervously. Josette laughed.

“Baby, no. It’s Josette to you, and you know that.” She strode over and hugged Hope tightly.

“I’m so glad that you three made up. Care and I were starting to consider locking you all in a room and seeing if you could make up.”

Lizzie snorted.

“And what a brilliant solution that would have been.”

Josette pulled back and smiled at them.

“Well, in any case, I’m just glad to see all three of you in the same room. And I hope this means I can expect you coming over more frequently?”

Hope nodded.

“Totally. You know I love Caroline’s cooking.”

“Is that Hope Mikaelson I hear?” Caroline called from the kitchen, making Josie wonder if she actually had super hearing. 

“Yes dear! Make sure you make some food for her.”

“Will do!”

Josette laughed and shook her head.

“Alright, dinner will be done soon, but until then you can go up to one of your rooms and chill. I’ll call you down.”

They all nodded, and raced up the stairs, giggling to themselves. 

Lizzie tugged Hope into her room, and Josie followed. They usually hung out in Lizzie’s room when it was the three of them. Josie liked having her room being a safe space, just for her quiet moments. Lizzie didn’t have that need, she liked looking around her room and being reminded of her friends.

Josie suspected that Lizzie would have spent a lot of time out of her room over her summer. She would have seen visions of Hope in every inch of the room, and wouldn’t have been able to take it. Josie knew that she felt that way about her own room, that she’d had to completely change her sheets, because she swore that she could smell Penelope’s perfume on them, even after two washes.

The three of them hopped onto Lizzie’s bed, and grinned at each other for a moment. Hope lifted her eyes from the twins and looked around the room, smiling with nostalgia.

“I’ve missed this room.” She laughed. “I still remember the day that we painted it blue, back when we were like twelve years old. And then I remember repainting it last year because you hated the color that you chose.”

Lizzie rolled her eyes.

“It was the same shade of blue that every girl painted their room when they were twelve. I needed to change it. I really just didn’t want the reminder of Middle School.” They all cringed at those words.

“Ugh, those years were probably the worst of my life,” Hope said, shaking her head.

Josie grinned.

“Remember the time that Lizzie cheated off of you in a test and you didn’t speak to her for five days?” Josie asked Hope. Lizzie groaned.

“That was possibly the pettiest thing you’ve ever done,” she told Hope. Hope shrugged.

“Remember the time that MG proposed to you with a plastic ring at the fair, and you cried?”

Lizzie slapped Hope’s arm.

“We agreed not to speak of that. It was so embarrassing for the both of us.” Lizzie turned to glare at Josie as she giggled. “Like you never did anything embarrassing. Remember when you had a crush on Hope?”

Josie gasped dramatically and hit Lizzie with a pillow.

“We agreed not to talk about that!”

Hope giggled.

“I still think it was cute. Didn’t you tell me it was because I gave you my jumper that one day when it was cold, and then you kept that jumper for three years?”

Josie hit Hope with the pillow, but Hope just laughed at her.

“I don’t like it when you guys gang up on me. It’s very mean,” Josie told them with a pout. 

Hope smiled at Lizzie, who smiled back.

“But there’s just so much to gang up on. What about the time you played a fork in Beauty and the Beast?” Lizzie asked.

“Don’t forget about the time that you set fire to my room because you knocked over a candle?” Hope added.

“Ooh! How have we not mentioned the time her and Raf kissed during Truth or Dare?”

Hope cackled.

“That was so funny! You both looked like you were going to throw up. And of course, Penelope and Jed both were so mad for the rest of the night.” Hope’s smile faltered when she realized what she’d said and she looked down. 

They all were silent for a second. Josie wasn’t sure what to say. The thing with all these memories was that Penelope was also a part of them. Penelope had been the one to tell Hope that Lizzie cheated off her, Penelope had taken a photo of MG proposing and made it his profile pic on her phone for three months, Penelope had acted weird around Josie for a week after she found out that Josie had a crush on Hope, and Josie later found out that it was because she was jealous. 

And of course, Penelope had given her a golden fork as an opening night gift for Beauty and the Beast. Not to mention, it was Penelope that had startled Josie into knocking over the candle.

They couldn’t just pretend like she didn’t exist, like she hadn't existed so prominently in their lives. Josie had tried that, and it really seemed to not work.

“Can we please not mention Satan? It’s bad enough that I have to see her evil face every day,” Lizzie muttered darkly. Josie saw the look on Hope’s face, and knew that there was definitely something that she wanted to say. Their eyes met, and Josie tried her best to convey that whatever Hope wanted to say, she should.

Hope sighed.

“Okay, look. I know that you guys kind of hate Penelope right now, but I’m going to be upfront, and say right now, she’s still my friend. So, I’m okay if we don’t talk about her, but that includes no insults.” Hope directed most of her speech to Lizzie. Josie got the feeling that she knew that Josie didn’t hate Penelope as much as she said.

Damn Hope’s observation skills.

Lizzie frowned at Hope.

“Why? I get that you’re still friends, but I really don’t get it. She’s done awful things, why are you still on her side?”

Hope sighed.

“This isn’t about sides. I just,” she sighed again, running a hand through her hair, “look, I can’t really say much, because I don’t want to betray her trust, but just know that she isn’t the villain you think she is.” Hope glanced furtively towards Josie, opening her mouth to explain further, or maybe apologize, but Josie just waved her off.

“I get it. And I know.” She sighed. “Let’s just not talk about Penelope. This is our time, no one else’s.”

Hope nodded firmly and Lizzie sighed, nodding as well.

“You’re right, as usual Jo. So, what should we do?” Lizzie asked.

They ended up watching YouTube on Lizzie’s laptop until dinner. When they came down, they were all laughing and joking, barely able to breathe.

Josie’s mums smiled as they laid out their bowls of soup.

“Seems like you girls have been having a good time. I’m assuming this is a sleepover?”

They all nodded.

“Yeah, I already checked with my parents, and they’re cool with it. I think my mum was almost more excited for it than I was,” Hope said with a grin. 

Josie could definitely imagine Hope’s mum being excited about this. She had loved all the girls, and had always been interested in whatever they were doing. Now that Josie thought about it, she missed Hope’s family. Missed Rebekah’s shopping trips that she’d take the girls on, and little baby Henry, and how Elijah was always waving a handkerchief around, or even Cami’s great advice. 

The Mikaelson’s had practically been their second family, and Josie knew that her mums loved them. Maybe a little too much, she suspected for one of them. Caroline had gone to the same high school as Klaus, and Josie had the slightest inkling that something had happened between them, based on some of the jokes the adults would make.

She shook herself out of those thoughts and focused on eating her soup, and listening to her mums asking Hope about almost every aspect of her life. Josie found it quite funny how Hope was getting such an intense interrogation. To her credit, Hope was taking it in stride, answering all the questions with a smile, and laughing at their stupid jokes. 

If Josie was brave enough, she’d make a joke about how this interrogation almost felt exactly like how her mums had questioned Jade when she’d come over that one time. But Josie quite preferred not having her teeth kicked in by Lizzie, or having her spine removed by Hope, so, she kept quiet.

Eventually, they went back to Lizzie’s room, and got settled for watching a movie on her laptop. They let Hope pick, which was a terrible decision, because she chose Coco, which made Josie cry every time they watched it.

This time was no different, and soon enough Josie was sniffling into the sleeve of her hoodie. Lizzie was lucky, because she was way better at hiding her tears. And, she had someone to subtly get comfort from. Seriously, Lizzie was so oblivious. Leaning into your best friend for comfort, and then resting your head on their shoulder, and then them putting their arm around you, and you smiling, was not a normal best friend thing.

Josie already felt like she was third wheeling. They were going to be insufferable once they actually figured their shit out and got together. 

When they finished Coco, Lizzie put on The Breakfast Club, and they watched that. At least this one didn’t make Josie cry, although, it did remind her of the time she’d watched it with Penelope, and Penelope had gone on a rant about how it was an incredibly sexist movie, and the whole ‘guy only likes girl once she goes through a makeover’ was a disgusting trope.

And then Josie had kissed her, because Penelope looked really hot when she got passionate about things. Penelope had kissed her back and Josie could almost feel her lips right now. For a moment, she forgot where she was, and just stared into a patch of space, trying to remember that memory as vividly as possible.

Oh, wait. She had a girlfriend. A girlfriend that she was going to have to explain the whole ‘my phone was missing, that’s why I didn’t text you, please don’t get mad at me’ thing to tomorrow.

Josie wondered why she was almost dreading the conversation. Jade was her girlfriend, Josie should look forwards to every conversation with her, should look forwards to seeing her face every morning, should want to be in her presence all the time.

That’s how it had been with Penelope. 

Ugh, Josie really needed to stop comparing Penelope to Jade. It was completely unfair, they were completely different, and Josie should be happy that she’d found someone to help heal her heart, someone who wasn’t afraid to love her.

And she was happy. She did really like Jade, loved her smile, loved the way she’d say Josie’s name, loved the comforting touches that she’d give her, loved how excited Jade got when she talked about Biology, because the little smile on her face was always so cute. Jade was a good person, and Josie was lucky to be with her.

“Josie, are you even paying attention?” Lizzie brought Josie out of her thoughts, rather abruptly. Josie turned to look at her and Hope, and realized that the movie was over.

“We were asking you if you wanted to pick the next movie,” Hope told her. Josie sighed.

“I don’t really mind.”

Lizzie frowned.

“Are you okay? You’re being all spacy and stuff.”

Josie shrugged.

“I’m just thinking. I’m worried about my phone, and I don’t know, I guess I have school work that I should be doing,” Josie tried to explain. Hope and Lizzie gave each other a look, and then Hope shut the laptop. The two of them moved so that they were facing Josie.

Josie frowned.

“What are you doing?”

“Josie, your thoughts are very occupied. If we are to truly enjoy our time together, we need to talk about whatever it is that’s bothering you, so that we may help you,” Lizzie told her.

Hope nodded.

“I’ll even remove the Penelope discussion ban. Feel free to say whatever is on your mind, because we just want to make sure that you’re okay,” she added. Josie smiled at her gratefully. 

“Thanks, but this isn’t really about Penelope. It’s about Jade.”

Lizzie immediately sat up.

“Did she do something? Did she do someone? I swear, I don’t care if she’s in Year 12, I will make sure that she doesn’t live to see graduation,” Lizzie fumed. Josie placed a calming hand on her knee.

“Relax, she hasn’t done anything. She’s been the prefect girlfriend. She even told me that she loves me a few weeks ago.”

Both Lizzie and Hope’s mouths fell open.

“Josie! Why didn’t you tell me?” Lizzie gasped.

Josie shrugged.

“I’ve been doing my best to put it out of my mind.”

“Did you say it back?” Hope asked gently. 

Josie bit her lip, and shook her head.

“No. I didn’t. And we haven’t talked about it.” 

They sat in silence for a moment. 

“Do you love her?” Lizzie asked, a little unnecessarily, but Josie knew that she was glad that Lizzie had asked.

“I don’t. And I know that I could, she’s amazing, and I like her a lot, it’s just that there’s something missing. It’s so stupid, I have this brilliant girlfriend, who loves me, and I can’t love her back because…”

“Because you’re still in love with Penelope,” Hope finished for her. Josie looked at Hope with a serious expression.

“You can’t tell Penelope, okay? She probably suspects, but I just…just don’t tell her, please,” Josie pleaded. Hope nodded immediately.

“Of course Josie, I would never betray your trust like that.”

Josie nodded and smiled. Lizzie sighed.

“I think you just need to focus on Jade. Go on a date with her, hang out with her after school, do something together. Maybe there’s something missing because you need to put in the effort,” Lizzie suggested. Hope and Josie stared at her, a little surprised at Lizzie’s advice. 

Lizzie rolled her eyes.

“I can give good advice too.”

Josie laughed.

“I know, it was just very wise for you. Usually, it’d be ‘do what you want, be happy’.”

Lizzie shrugged.

“This is what you want though? Jade makes you happy, so you should do what you have to keep her.”

Josie smiled.

“You’re a good sister.”

“I’m the best sister and don’t you ever forget it.”

Hope laughed at Lizzie.

“You’re a narcissist.”

“Says you. Last year at Homecoming you told Dana not to be jealous because you were prettier than her.”

“She was being a bitch! I had to defend myself,” Hope argued.

Josie laughed and they looked back at her.

“Did that help?” Lizzie asked, genuinely concerned about her. 

Josie nodded.

“It did. When I see Jade at school tomorrow, I’m going to apologize to her for being distant and ask her if she wants to get a milkshake with me after rehearsal.”

“That’s the spirit,” Hope said with a grin.

Josie smiled at Hope.

“Alright, now that we’ve gotten Josie out of crisis, we’re putting on The Greatest Showman, and we’re going to sing along to it!” Lizzie proclaimed, grabbing the laptop and pulling it back onto her lap.

Josie just laughed and rested back against the bed.

Hope and Lizzie were right. All she had to do was put Penelope out of her mind, and really focus on Jade. They’d lost the spark they’d had over the summer, but they could get it back if they tried. They were going to be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As the author of this Posie endgame fic, I must say that Jade and Josie are not going to be okay.  
> So, I know that I have you guys waiting a while for updates right now, but, I only have one week of school left, and then I will have literally nothing but free time, so hopefully, I can update a bit quicker!   
> Next chapter will be Josie POV again, and I can promise you some quality Posie interaction!  
> In the mean time, stay safe, stay healthy, and remember to do what you can for the BLM movement! Even though it is not trending, it is always important!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm finally in the holidays, and I am very happy about it! I was planning to update yesterday, but I was so exhausted, so I didn't, but I am here now! This chapter has Posie!  
> Enjoy!

Josie spent the next day completely exhausted from the sleepover, which had kept them up until at least three in the morning. The three of them had consumed so much coffee that morning to keep them focused that Josie wouldn’t be surprised if one of them had a seizure during the day.

Along with being exhausted, Josie was also stressed out about her phone. She’d wanted to go to the Front Office looking for it first thing in the morning, but Hope had reminded her that if someone had found it, they likely wouldn’t have had a chance to hand it in yet. She had wanted to go at recess or lunch, but had been swept up doing her work, and hadn’t been able to find the time. Rehearsal only started at 3:40, so she had time before then.

Josie walked into the Front Office, and the lady at the desk looked up at her.

“What can I help you with?” She asked with a pleasant smile.

Josie tried her best to smile, but there were too many nerves churning in her stomach, which was not a pleasant combination with the coffee. If her phone wasn’t here, it was officially missing, and Josie didn’t want to think about that. Her mothers might actually kill her if it was gone for good. 

“Um, I lost my phone yesterday afternoon. It has a yellow phone case with little blue dots on it,” she described, fiddling with her fingers.

The lady smiled.

“Ah, so it’s your phone. It was dropped off earlier this morning. Apparently, it was in the music room.” 

Josie let out an audible sigh. She didn’t think that she’d taken her phone out when she was in there, but she must have looked up something when she was talking to Hope, and put it down somewhere. It sounded like her, she was awfully forgetful at times.

The lady held it out for her, and she took it back gratefully. She turned it on to see that it only had 36%, which wasn’t surprising, and it had three messages from Jade, dated at lunch.

**Jade <3: hey Josie, you didn’t text last night, are you okay?**

**Jade <3: you’ve been kinda distant, I just wanted to check in**

**Jade <3: I know that you’re probably in class rn, but I’d really like to talk to you**

Josie smiled at Jade’s concern. She hadn’t been able to talk to her girlfriend all day, and it was nice to see that Jade wasn’t mad at her. And it showed that Jade cared. Not that Josie needed to be worried about that, because if anyone was to be doubting that the other cared in this relationship, it was not Josie.

She texted her back.

**Josie: Sorry, I misplaced my phone and I didn’t have it all day. Can we talk after rehearsals?**

She pocketed her phone and went to the library to do some study for Music. Honestly, there was so much work in that class, she seriously thought that it counted as punishment.

When the clock hit 3:35, Josie packed up and headed to the theatre. When she got there however, she was greeted with a surprising sight. Maya and Kol were in there already, and Maya seemed to be in the middle of some sort of dance routine.

When they saw her, Kol stopped the music and walked over to her with a frown.

“Josie, we’ve been waiting for you, where have you been?”

Josie frowned.

“Rehearsals start at three-forty, right?”

He kept frowning.

“Maya texted you and me saying that she had an idea for a dance routine for Gabriella and that she wanted us to be here early. Didn’t you see the text?” 

Josie pulled out her phone and checked her messages. There it was, the text, dated that morning. It was strange that she hadn’t seen it; surely it would have been on the screen when she checked it. 

She looked up.

“I’m so sorry, but I haven’t had my phone all day. I only grabbed it this afternoon, and I didn’t see the message.”

Kol sighed.

“Well, I guess that’s understandable. You just need to be a little more on top of things like this though. Our leading lady cannot be unorganized.” 

Josie nodded.

“It won’t happen again.”

“Good. Okay, you and Maya head out to a separate room. She can teach you the choreo that she’s come up with.”

Maya gave Josie a blinding smile.

“It’s really cool. Kol agrees, right?”

Kol nodded.

“It really is.”

Josie looked between the two of them. What was Maya doing? She wasn’t the official choreographer. 

Josie started to get the sneaking suspicion that something fishy was going on here. She knew that she couldn’t trust Maya, after all, Maya had been extremely passive aggressive on that first day, but surely, she wouldn’t actively do something to sabotage Josie?

Right?

+++

Josie’s thought that Maya wouldn’t do something to sabotage her was dismissed the moment that Maya started the choreography. Josie didn’t even know that it was possible for a human to move like that. Honestly, Maya must have super healing powers that allowed her to break her bones and heal instantly. Or like, super speed.

Josie tried her best to replicate the movements that Maya showed her, but there was always something that she was doing wrong. Maya made sure to let her know every time, with a shining bright smile, and a condescending sigh, as if Josie was just some child.

She knew that she should be the bigger person, but she was just so tired, and she just wanted to go home and cry into her pillow, and then maybe sleep for a thousand years. What she did not want to be doing was practicing choreography which was definitely engineered to make Josie dislocate her knees or pop out her spine.

“No, Josie, you’re out of time. You’ve got to keep moving your feet,” Maya instructed, stopping the music again. Josie sighed.

“I don’t think I can.” She turned to Maya, trying to keep a hold on all of her emotions. “Look, maybe we should just leave it. I’m clearly not learning it properly, and I’ve already been told off by Kol once today. I’m just wasting your time; I should let you go back in there.” Oh great. Instead of getting mad at Maya, she just went into a self-deprecating spiral out loud.

Maya tilted her head to the side, frowning in a way that made it very clear that she didn’t care about anything Josie had just said.

“But, you’re the lead. And Kol asked you to learn this choreography. Surely you don’t want to disappoint him anymore than you already have?”

Josie groaned.

“Look, the phone thing was a mess up, I don’t know what happened, but he knows that it was just a stupid mistake.”

Maya smiled at Josie, looking just a little bit like a wolf centering in on its prey.

“Right, a little mix up. It really is a shame that you didn’t have your phone, maybe if you’d been here earlier, you wouldn’t be messing up this simple choreography.” There was something in Maya’s voice that gave Josie pause, and made her realize that maybe she’d just given more away than she’d meant to.

Now, Josie wasn’t one to blame people for her own mistakes. Nothing good ever came out of it, and it was always best to just own up, and deal with the consequences. But, was it possible that the disappearance of her phone wasn’t an accident, and was instead, sabotage?

No, that was crazy. Maya was a bitch, but she wouldn’t steal Josie’s phone, and then set a rehearsal that she knew that Josie wouldn’t be able to attend, just to make Josie look bad.

Right?

Josie swallowed. No matter the truth, the facts were still that she needed to learn this dance. Kol trusted Maya, and he trusted Josie’s ability to learn the dance. And maybe Maya was just a little bit right. Josie needed to be able to prove that she was worthy of the lead role.

She stepped forwards.

“Alright, let’s do it again.”

Maya looked up, and Josie saw, just for a moment, a little bit of surprise, like she hadn’t been expecting Josie to keep going. Then she just nodded and played the music again.

“Alright Josie, show me what you’ve got.”

+++

After what felt like hours, but was probably barely five minutes, of Josie running through the routine, Kol came in to observe her progress. Josie was surprised to see that he wasn’t as disappointed as she thought he would be at her inability to perform all the tricky moves.

“It’s alright Josie, I admire your spirit, but maybe the choreography is a little difficult. Perhaps, Taylor could have a dance break during Stick to the Status Quo where we could use these moves?” He lifted an eyebrow as he looked at Maya.

Josie would’ve expected that Maya would be leaping for joy at the news that she would get to show off her dancing skills to everyone. But she looked almost disappointed. Eventually she just nodded, plastering on that fake smile again.

“Sounds good.” 

Kol smiled at her and then turned back to Josie.

“You’ve been doing a lot of hard work this session. Go take a quick five, walk around the hallways or something, then come back and we’ll run through the homeroom scene with everyone.” 

Josie nodded, and Kol left the room. Maya sighed.

“I guess you just aren’t meant to be a triple threat Forbes-Laughlin. Don’t worry, not everyone can be good enough.”

Wow, was arson still illegal? Because Maya was just asking for her hair to get set on fire. 

Josie looked down at Maya’s feet, and noted her golden shoes.

“They’re nice,” she commented awkwardly. Josie knew that being nice probably wasn’t the strongest thing that she could have done in response to Maya being a bitch, but well, she’d never been the one to hold her own in fights.

Maya blinked and looked down. For the first time, she looked almost genuine when she smiled.

“Oh, thanks. My mum got them for me at the beginning of the year. They’re my special dancing shoes.”

Josie nodded, giving Maya a smile.

“That’s nice.”

Maya frowned at her.

“You should probably go. Kol will want you back soon, so, no slacking. Can't have you letting down the rest of the cast.”

Seriously? Josie tried to be nice and she just went back to insulting Josie. Was there any winning with people like this?

Josie sighed and headed outside. She was still aching in places that she didn’t even know muscles existed. Maybe she should take up yoga, even if Lizzie would totally roast her for it. 

She stepped out into the hallway, and just leant against the wall. Closing her eyes, she tried to imagine a calm blue sky, or perhaps a nice warm bed, with comfy pillows, and the sound of rain on the windows…

“Are you trying to sleep standing up? Because even for a girl of your talents, I don’t know how possible that is.”

Josie’s eyes snapped open and she jolted off the wall. Looking at her, with a little bit of humor, and a little bit of concern, was Penelope. 

Penelope chuckled. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”

Josie swallowed and shook her head.

“It’s fine, I’m just a little tired.” She rubbed at her eyes, and then frowned as stars sprung up in her vision. Maybe she should try and think things through before doing them.

“Ah yes. Hope’s been complaining about being tired all day.” Penelope tilted her head to look at Josie. “Let me guess, you’ve had like a million coffees?”

Josie rolled her eyes.

“Three is not a million.”

“It is when you hate the taste of coffee,” Penelope teased, and Josie blushed. She did hate the taste of coffee, much preferring tea, which of course Penelope knew, because she used to make Josie tea when she was studying. Penelope on the other hand would have no qualms with chugging five coffees at 9pm because she wanted to be able to pull an all-nighter. Josie wondered if her sleep schedule was still as messed up as it always had been.

“Yeah, well, without the caffeine, I might have fainted in the middle of English, and that would have been way too embarrassing for me,” Josie explained.

Penelope just grinned.

“We can’t have that. Especially when you’re Mr Griffith’s favorite student.” 

Josie blushed again.

“I am not.”

“You totally are. He always picks you to answer questions, even when your hand isn’t the first to go up. And he always goes ‘that’s exactly right Josie’ or ‘brilliant observation Josie’. It’s favoritism, plain and clear.”

Josie folded her arms.

“You say that as if he didn’t give you 100% for your monologue of Macbeth last year. All of his comments were about how you were born to play Lady Macbeth, and how your talent was simply outstanding.”

Penelope’s eyes softened, and when she spoke her voice had just a touch of awe. 

“You remember that?”

Josie blushed and looked at her feet, unable to meet the look in Penelope’s eyes.

“How could I not? You wouldn’t shut up about it for like three weeks. And it became one of your main comebacks against Lizzie.” 

Josie felt bad for lying when she moved her eyes back up to see the smile fading from Penelope’s face. The real reason that she remembered was because she could still picture Penelope’s excited smile, and she could still hear the way that Penelope had ranted about it so happily. Penelope had been especially proud of herself because her mother had actually congratulated her, and Josie knew how important that was to Penelope. 

Josie wished that she could take it back, and keep joking with Penelope, bantering like they used to. It had been so easy just to fall back into how they were, and Josie found that her heart was racing more than it had in ages. But now she had walls around Penelope, and now there were unspoken rules about how they were meant to act and what she was meant to say.

And Josie couldn’t deal with Penelope acting like she cared. Couldn’t let herself dare to dream that maybe, just maybe, Penelope really had lied when she told Josie that she didn’t think that she’d ever love her. 

Because that type of wishful thinking got Josie nowhere except awake at 2am with tears drying on her face. 

Penelope cleared her throat, pointedly not looking at Josie.

“So, why are you out here?”

“I could ask you the same question.”

“Come on Josie, I asked first, which means I get an answer first,” Penelope told her, the grin falling back onto her face like it was second nature. 

Josie sighed.

“I just spent the past thirty minutes trying to learn the choreography to the most complicated dance in the world.”

Penelope frowned.

“But MG is meant to be our official choreographer, and he was trying to get us to learn what he’s come up with for Getcha Head in The Game.”

Josie nodded.

“Maya was teaching me, because she got showed Kol her dance and he loved it. And then when I couldn’t learn it, he gave it to her for a dance break in the show. I should be happy for her, but it really feels like she has it out for me.” 

Penelope walked over to where Josie was and leaned against the wall next to her.

“I get a mixed read off of Maya. On the one hand, she could totally be one of those theatre bitches who puts everyone else down, but on the other hand, she’s one of the few people that convinced me to stay in the show when I was considering dropping out.”

Josie frowned. 

“Wait, you were going to drop out? Why?” 

Penelope dropped her eyes and bit her lip. Whatever she was thinking of in that moment, it wasn’t happy, judging by the sag of her shoulders. Josie waited for an answer, but when it seemed that she wouldn’t get one, she nudged Penelope with her foot.

“Hey. What happened?” So, apparently that whole ‘don’t show feelings around Penelope’ thing dropped the moment that Penelope looked remotely sad. Josie’s self-assigned role as the care taker was going to cause problems one day.

Penelope sighed.

“I considered dropping out when you snapped at me that day in rehearsal. I felt like I was ruining it for you, and I hated that, because I knew how long you’d been waiting for this chance.” She shook her head, and Josie heart hurt at how dejected she sounded.

Josie knew that she’d hurt Penelope that day, it was why she’d felt so bad about it. She just didn’t realize that she’d actually made Penelope want to quit. 

“I didn’t mean it. I didn’t actually want you to leave. This play is important to you too, I was just upset in the moment.”

Penelope nodded.

“I know. I just felt so awful, because despite what you think, I never wanted to see you hurt. But I guess I failed at that.” She chuckled wryly, and Josie realized that this was the most open Penelope had been with her in ages. Penelope seemed to realize that too, because she pushed off the wall.

“I’m sorry, you’re probably exhausted, you don’t need this right now.” As Penelope stepped back, Josie finally pushed off the wall and reached out, her hand instinctively wrapping around Penelope’s wrist.

“No, it’s okay,” Josie told her. Penelope met her eyes, and Josie felt her breath catch, just for a moment. She dropped her hand back to her side, but her eyes didn’t leave Penelope’s.

“I’m really sorry for yelling at you. I never wanted you to feel like you had to give up something that you loved,” Josie apologized. 

Penelope looked away, her throat bobbing as she swallowed.

“I know.” 

They were silent for a moment, and Josie really wished that she could read Penelope’s mind in that moment. What was it that she’d said that made Penelope unable to meet her gaze?

Josie sighed. “I should probably get back in there. Do you want to come too?” She asked awkwardly.

Penelope sighed.

“Just…just give me a moment. Tell Kol that I’m in the bathroom.”

Josie nodded, and Penelope gave her a small smile before turning away. She had walked a few paces away from Josie, when something in Josie made her call out.

“You know, if you ever need to talk to someone, I’m still here. Even if things are weird right now, I’ll always listen. Even if you have people that you’d probably prefer to talk to.”   
Did Josie have the ability to say anything without making a complete mess of herself? Because Josie was seriously doubting it.

Penelope stopped in the middle of the corridor and looked back over her shoulder.

“Thanks Josie. And just so we’re clear, I’d choose to talk to you over anyone else every time.” She said the last bit with her signature grin back on her face. Josie just bobbed her head and blushed before pushing the door to the theatre open again. 

How did Penelope do that? Josie was supposed to hate her, and yet, her heart still raced when Penelope smiled at her, and she still felt a pain in her gut whenever Penelope was sad. She shouldn’t feel this way. Didn’t she literally just come up with a plan to fall in love with Jade?

Josie was literally the worst girlfriend. She needed to be better for Jade. Because she wasn’t good enough for Penelope, and that was something that Josie needed to remember. She already lost a girlfriend by making bad choices, and she could not mess things up with Jade.

So, when she came into sight of the cast members, she looked for Jade. Her girlfriend was sitting up the back with Wendy, and they were talking about something in hushed voices. Jade was frowning, and Josie wondered what it was that they were talking about.

When Jade looked up and met her eyes, Josie tried to offer her a comforting smile. One that showed that she was sorry for being distant, and also that she still cared. Because she did. Just because Penelope seemed to be ever present in her heart didn’t mean that Josie didn’t have room for Jade.

She crossed the room, and Jade stood when she reached her.

“Hey,” Josie said, a little nervous that Jade was mad at her.

Jade smiled at her, “Hey stranger.”

Josie could tell that she meant it as a joke, but she still felt bad about it.

“I’m sorry for being distant, I lost my phone last night, and I’ve been really preoccupied this week, but I miss you.” 

There was something in Jade’s eyes that Josie couldn’t quite place. Regret? No, not quite. Before she could figure out what it was, Jade reached out to run her fingers across Josie’s cheek.

“It’s okay Josie. I saw your text. And I know that you’ve been busy.” She leant in and kissed Josie softly, which Josie happily reciprocated. It felt like so long since she’d gotten to kiss Jade. It was really nice, Josie thought. 

They pulled back, and now Jade’s smile was fully on her face.

“I missed you too,” she whispered, and Josie giggled, reaching out to take her hands.

“Do you want to hang out after school?” She asked. Jade sighed.

“I can’t, I’ve got so much homework, you would not believe it. But I’ll probably be free on the weekend, so if at any point you get lonely, I’d only be too happy to make you feel better,” Jade told her with a grin. Josie nodded.

“That sounds nice.” Josie was about to add something else, perhaps ask Jade how her day had been going, but then Kol called out.

“Alright, everyone up here, let’s run through the homeroom scene in Act One, and if we get time, Josie and Penelope can run through Breaking Free.” 

Josie looked around the room for Penelope, and found that she was sitting by Hope and Landon. She met Josie’s eyes, and gave her a little smile as she rose. Josie smiled back.

She really hoped that one day, she wouldn't feel like there was a Penelope sized hole in her heart. 

+++

Josie had been just about to leave rehearsals when she realized that she’d left her water bottle inside the room, back when she’d been practicing with Maya. She told Lizzie, and then rushed back inside to grab it.

The room was empty, with only props sitting around the room. Her water bottle was resting on the table, next to a bright pink bag. 

She walked over and picked up her water bottle, and then found her gaze drifting over to the bag. There were a pair of golden shoes poking out of the top. So, it was Maya’s bag.   
Josie should’ve walked away, but suddenly her mind was echoing with all that Maya had done today. How she’d been treating Josie all afternoon, actually scratch that, how she’d been treating Josie since the beginning, not to mention the fact that she’d probably stolen Josie’s phone.

And suddenly, all the pent-up anger that she kept shoving down rose up, and she was left with a burning desire to just do something. 

Well, maybe it was time to fight fire with fire. To give Maya a taste of her own medicine. It wasn’t something that Josie would normally do, but something about everything that had been going on ignited a darker side of herself.

She looked around to make sure that no one was watching, and then grabbed the golden shoes, stuffing them into her own bag.

Then she turned and all but sprinted out of the room. 

Half of her was screaming to take the shoes back, but the other half felt proud of herself for finally doing something.

And even though it was stupid, Josie couldn’t help but wonder what Penelope would think.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that Josie is being a bit of an idiot right now, but she has to make mistakes before she can learn. At least her and Penelope can talk without arguing now! (Mostly)  
> Next chapter will be a Penelope POV chapter, and we'll see what she's been doing! Hopefully, I can get that chapter to you guys soon!  
> Thanks again to everyone who has read this fic! I honestly didn't know how many people would actually want to read this, and that fact that there are still a fair few of you who wanted to makes me really happy!


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah. Is this,,,an update,,,in under a week? Shocking.  
> As promised, it's Penelope's POV, and includes what she was doing on the afternoon that Hope was with Josie and Lizzie, and what she did the next day.   
> Enjoy!

Penelope didn’t think that she’d been in such a good mood for ages. It seemed like finally, things were going her way. 

Yesterday, when Josie had talked to her, and the following rehearsal, had been the closest she’d felt to Josie in a while. It truly felt like Josie still cared. Penelope knew it was bad for her to be thinking such things, and that it would probably better for Josie if she didn’t care, but Penelope just couldn’t help it.

She was also proud of Hope for finally talking to the twins. If Penelope couldn’t have her friends, then at least Hope could. She of course wanted to know what was going on with Hope and Lizzie, but she supposed that could wait.

So, she’d gone straight home, for the first time in ages, and had actually engaged in conversation with her father. He’d been surprised, but pleased to see that she wanted to talk to him. And when she had mentioned Josie with a smile on her face, he had told her that he thought they might still have a chance.

Penelope hadn’t really planned on calling Josie. She’d just been sitting in her room, and as always happened when she was alone, got hit by a wave of wanting to talk to Josie. It wasn’t even like she missed kissing Josie, or flirting with her. She just missed Josie’s company, the way she’d always make bad jokes to make Penelope smile, or would show her funny videos that she found.

And then Penelope had thought, well, maybe she could call her, just to talk. Maybe she could start stitching them back together. Because while she’d thought that she was strong enough to live without Josie, she clearly wasn’t, and she really needed her back in her life.

So, she’d called Josie. 

Unsurprisingly, it had gone straight to voicemail. Josie was probably with Hope and Lizzie. Either that, or she was intentionally ignoring Penelope. Which was totally fair, they were not really on speaking terms right now.

But, being the idiot that she was, Penelope had decided to leave a message. 

“Uhh, hi. So, I know that it’s really stupid of me to call, and you probably still hate me, but I just wanted to say that it was nice talking to you today. And today’s rehearsal was probably the best one we’ve had so far. I just know that we’re going to kill it.” She paused, considering ending it there, but her stupid mouth just kept talking, “I miss you Josie. I know that’s probably the stupidest thing that I could say right now, but it’s true. Just…” she sighed, “if you can ever stop hating me, I’d like to be friends again. That’s all.” She had ended the voicemail, and then threw her phone to the end of her bed, burying her head in her hands.

She was so stupid. Josie literally hated her. Why was she leaving stupid voicemails to her? Josie would probably just block her, and then they’d go back to being awkward.

Apart from that complete embarrassment, Penelope’s evening had passed without event. She’d texted Landon and Kaleb for most of the night, and then had passed out. 

When she’d seen Josie around the next day, she’d looked for any indication that Josie had heard her message. But Josie didn’t seem to react any differently when their eyes met. It was just the usual awkward moment, which was ended by Josie looking away. It was always Josie who looked away. Probably because Penelope was so attached that she would take any attention she could from the other girl. 

Jade, on the other hand, seemed to have picked up a permanent glare. It was even worse than before. Penelope thought it was weird, because she hadn’t even been with Josie at lunch and recess, so where did she get off glaring at Penelope like it was her job?

Josie literally hated Penelope. Jade had no reason to worry, because Penelope had fucked them up, and they would probably never get back together.

Penelope was almost mad at Jade on Josie’s behalf, because she remembered Josie not liking her jealous side. Josie hadn’t liked it when Penelope got overly protective, and she thought that jealousy was stupid. She had preferred knowing that Penelope trusted her.

Penelope wondered if Josie had said anything to Jade, or if she hadn’t noticed. Or, if she’d just decided that jealousy was okay if it was Jade. 

Penelope really needed to stop going down these Jade and Josie related rabbit holes, because all they did was make her feel worse.

MG may have been a nice and friendly guy, but when it came to learning choreography, he did not mess around. Penelope didn’t think that she would be able to hear the opening rhythm of Getcha Head In The Game without feeling pain for a long time once this was over.

She’d gone outside for a break, and she’d found Josie, leaning against the wall, eyes closed. She looked so peaceful, and Penelope couldn’t help but smile. Josie was probably tired from the night before. Hope had stayed over at her house, and Penelope knew that they'd been up very very late. 

Penelope had startled Josie, but then they’d flowed into easy banter, just like they always had. Penelope still remembered Josie’s hate of coffee, still noticed her in English, noticed how Mr Griffith loved her. When Josie had mentioned remembering her Macbeth monologue, and the marks that Penelope had received, she hadn’t been able to stop her heart from leaping through her chest.

Then Josie shut down, shut Penelope out, and Penelope remembered that they couldn’t be like they were, that every memory that Josie had of Penelope was probably tainted beyond belief, that she probably held no happy memories of them anymore. 

Penelope was still recovering from Josie’s dismissal, and she’d slipped up, mentioned how she’d been planning to leave. She’d been hoping to not let Josie know, not worry her, because of course Josie would be guilty, and yes, it had hurt when Josie had snapped at her, but she didn’t like making Josie feel bad.

Josie had told her that she didn’t mean it and Penelope had told her that she’d known that, because she had. Penelope had been stupid, so stupid, and had told Josie that she’d never meant to hurt her, and had then lamented about how she’d failed at that.

Seriously, her one job was to not open up around Josie, because well, that’d just be setting herself up for heartbreak, and it’d be messing with Josie’s feelings, and that was not Penelope’s intention. As much as she disliked Jade, she hoped that she could make Josie happy, because that was what Josie needed right now. 

Josie had apologised again, and Penelope was reminded again of how much she still cared about her. As much as she hated the way that Josie always put herself second, as much as she hated the fact that Josie didn’t think that she was worth everything in the world, she still found her compassion and kindness beautiful. 

Penelope was quick to anger, and quick to fight back. Josie was always the one coming up with a way where no one got hurt, or was always looking for the other person’s side. It took a lot to bring out the darker side of Josie, the one that didn’t really mind hurting other people, so if that happened, you knew you’d fucked up. 

Penelope knew that she’d definitely brought out that side when she’d broken up with Josie. What other explanation was there for her lashing out at Hope like that?

Josie had actually offered to listen if Penelope wanted to talk, and it had hurt to hear those words. Especially after how everything had fallen apart. After Josie had drawn away, and barely had time to listen to any of the problems that Penelope had. But she’d been so cute, so soft and awkward as she stumbled over her words, and Penelope had almost run back to Josie and kissed her.

To be fair, she was almost constantly in a state of wanting to kiss Josie. So, instead, she’d just flirted, and told Josie that she always wanted to talk to her. She’d wanted to ask about the voicemail, but had decided that maybe it was for the best that she didn’t. It had been a mistake anyways.

Penelope had needed a moment to herself after their talk. Josie was so confusing. Half the time, it felt like she cared, like her heart ached from the distance just as much as Penelope’s did. The rest of the time though, it felt like she hated Penelope, like she wanted nothing to do with her. Penelope just wanted her to pick one side, so that she could either stop hoping, or start moving forwards.

When rehearsal was finished, Penelope grabbed both Landon and Hope, and pulled them out with her. She’d been wanting to have a good hang out with the both of them for ages, and she knew that Hope had a lot to tell them. 

They piled into Hope’s car, Penelope claiming the shotgun seat, as she always did, and then she turned to Hope.

“So, what happened?”

Hope rolled her eyes.

“You’re so annoying.”

“Come on Hope, you and Lizzie made up, surely you want to talk about it?” Landon called from the backseat, where he was lying down.

Hope looked back at him.

“You’re breaking so many laws right now.”

“Laws are a social construct.”

“Your face is a social construct.”

“You’re both idiots. Hope, spill,” Penelope interjected.

Hope sighed.

“Okay, now, don’t get mad at me—”

“What the fuck did you do?” Penelope sighed, glaring at Hope.

“I thought I said don’t get mad at me?” Hope turned the car out of the car park, and chewed her lip nervously. 

Penelope rested her head on the back of the seat. What had Hope done now? Knowing her best friend, it could be really bad.

“I may have told Lizzie that I got over her during the summer.”

Penelope stared at Hope for a moment, unsure if whacking her over the head while she was driving was a move that would endanger all of them. She decided against it.

“Oh, that. Yeah, that’s stupid,” Landon chimed in from the backseat. 

Penelope blinked, still trying to comprehend what Hope had just told her.

“Hold on. So, you’re telling me, that you told Elizabeth Jenna Forbes-Lauglin, the girl you’ve been in love with since the third grade—”

“Hey, fifth grade at best,” Hope interjected, but Penelope ignored her and continued.

“You told the girl that you cried over during the summer at least fifty times, the girl that I know you have planned your wedding with, the girl that I know you have a million sketches of, that you simply got over her?”

Hope continued to chew her lip and focus on the road. Penelope nudged her.

“Hope, answer me.”

“It’s not that big a deal.”

“Oh boy, here we go,” Landon sighed from the backseat.

“Not that big a deal? Hope, are you serious?” Penelope asked incredulously. Hope sighed.

“I just don’t want things to be weird. It’s easier if she thinks that I’m over her. Maybe I can actually get over her, now that we’re back to being friends,” Hope reasoned. Penelope wondered how someone who got such amazing grades had such little common sense.

“Yeah, because being friends helped you get over her so amazingly during all the past years of our friendship,” Penelope scoffed.

“It’s not the same situation!”

“How?”

“Now I know for certain that she doesn’t feel the same way. Now, I can stop hoping.”

“Your name is literally Hope.”

Hope lifted one hand off of the wheel to slap Penelope’s arm. Penelope flinched dramatically and smacked her arm.

“Hey, don’t distract the driver!”

“You hit me first!”

“Oh look, there’s Hope’s house. Surely, we end this discussion for at least a little while,” Landon suggested from the backseat. Hope and Penelope both sighed.

“Fine. But I’m not letting you get away with this.”

“As if you’re any better,” Hope remarked, and Penelope felt a little prickle of annoyance when she realized that Hope was slightly serious. And then she felt bad because if Hope was lashing out, Penelope might’ve pushed a little too far.

She seemed to excel at that these days.

The three of them climbed out of the car, and went into the Mikaelson mansion. Today, they were greeted by Hayley and Elijah.

“Penelope and Landon! It’s good to see you two.” Hayley smiled as she saw them enter. Penelope grinned. Hayley was one of her favorites out of Hope’s family. She’d basically realized super early on that Penelope’s mother wasn’t the best, and had decided to practically adopt Penelope. 

Landon just grinned awkwardly. Hope’s family was fond of all of her friends, even if they found Landon to be a little strange. Landon of course, was terrified of most of them. Especially Klaus. Penelope was pretty sure that she’d seen him nearly start crying when Klaus had played chess with him one time. Hope had then told her that Klaus found it funny that Landon was scared of him. Penelope had to agree.

Elijah smiled at them all politely.

“I assume you’re coming back from my brother’s play rehearsal?”

They all nodded.

“Well, we shall leave you be. I’m sure there is plenty you have to discuss.”

They all bobbed their heads and moved past the two adults. Penelope was about to say something to Hope, when Hayley called after them.

“Penelope.”

Penelope turned, trying for an easy grin.

“Is your mother back from your work trip?”

Penelope sighed. Hayley was too good at remembering things about Penelope. It was nice, she had to admit, but thinking about her mother just made her sad these days.

“She’s still away. Although, she has been promising to come back for ages.”

Hayley nodded, but Penelope could see that she was still just a little bit worried.

“Well, you always have a home here, if things get a little hectic at yours.”

“I know, and you’ll probably be seeing a lot of me once she gets back for good.” It wouldn’t have been the first time that it had happened. Penelope had spent entire weeks at the Mikaelson residence just so that she didn’t have to deal with her mother’s opinion.

Hayley seemed satisfied with that answer, so Penelope turned and followed the others down to the basement.

Landon threw himself on the beanbag and sighed.

“Why don’t your family members like me Hope?” He asked. Hope shrugged.

“I’m not sure.” She paused. “I think Keelin likes you but don’t tell her that I said that.”

Penelope rolled her eyes as she sat down.

“Enough of Landon’s whining. It’s distracting from what is important. Hope, being an idiot.”

Hope glared at Penelope.

“Do you have the ability to let things go?"

“You know me, and the answer is clearly no.”

“Lizzie and I are friends, and that’s just how it has to be,” Hope stated, but Penelope just snorted.

“I’m not letting you let this go,” she said firmly. Hope sighed and stood up.

“Why are you even so bothered? You hate Lizzie.”

Penelope folded her arms.

“I do not hate her. She’s just a bitch to me sometimes, and towards the end of me and Josie’s relationship she was a problem, and I don’t like that she hurt you, but we were actually friends.”

Hope just stared at her. Penelope stood up, well aware that Landon was watching them with a little bit of apprehension. That was probably well warranted. Penelope and Hope were not known for having calm discussions.

“Look, I just know how much you love her, and I know that you deserve to be happy.”

Hope shook her head.

“I know that, but Lizzie doesn’t want me. As far as we’re concerned, she doesn’t even like girls.”

Penelope laughed at that. She knew that Hope was being respectful and everything, but it did get to a point where you were just being stupid.

“Hope, we’ve both seen her checking out multiple girls, not to mention that she has a list of women that she would date if given the chance.”

“Straight girls have celebrity crushes!”

“The list is twenty people long,” Penelope said, wondering how it was possible to be so oblivious to the truth. Hope just sighed.

“It doesn’t matter. You know what she said to me.”

Landon sighed, apparently deciding that now was a good time to join in.

“Hope, we all know Lizzie. She doesn’t like having feelings, and she hates talking about them. Besides, I’ve seen the way that you two look at each other.” 

Penelope and Hope both looked at him and Hope sighed again. Penelope noted that she seemed to be doing a lot of that when she talked about Lizzie.

“I just…I don’t want to ruin it again. I can’t ruin it again. I know what living without her is like and I really don’t know if I could handle it again.”

Penelope wanted to make a joke about how dramatic she was being, about how they were only 17, but she too knew what it was like to live without the person you breathe for. 

So, she just walked over to Hope, and hugged her. Hope made a little noise of surprise, but then hugged back tightly. Penelope got the feeling that she’d needed it, and realized that she herself needed it. She even started getting a little teary. 

They both giggled as Landon wrapped his arms around them, pressing into them and filling the space with the cologne that he’d been wearing since the eighth grade. 

“I felt left out, and I wanted a hug too,” he explained, and Penelope wrapped an arm around him.

“You guys suck, you always make me cry.”

Hope jabbed her in the ribs lightly.

“Why are you crying, nothing happened?"

“We’re doing some dramatic group hug. Also, I started thinking about Josie.”

Hope and Landon both sighed and pulled back. Penelope mentally cursed herself for the interrogation about her emotions that she just brought on. 

“So, how are you and Josie?” Landon asked, in what he probably thought was a casual tone. Penelope collapsed back on the chair.

“First of all, there’s no me and Josie. Second, I think we’ve moved away from actively hating each other. Not that I ever hated her,” Penelope added, just a little sadly. Because she knew that at least some part of Josie had genuinely hated Penelope. She couldn’t have moved on otherwise.

“That’s good at least. Have you talked outside of rehearsal since yesterday?” Hope asked. Penelope smiled as she thought of the conversation with Josie earlier. But then she remembered what they’d discussed, and the smile twisted into a frown.

“Yeah, we talked this afternoon. The cat finally got out the bag about me considering quitting the musical, and she apologized about a million times for yelling at me. And then told me that if I ever wanted to talk about things, I could go to her. Suffice to say, I needed to have a moment to compose myself after that chat.”

Hope and Landon seemed to both be a little shocked by all of that, so Penelope gave them a moment to unpack all of it. 

“Josie told you that you can talk to her about things?” Hope asked finally. Penelope nodded.

“Yep.”

“And she has no idea that one of the reasons why you broke up was because she literally stopped talking to you about things?”

“It would seem to be that way.”

There was a silence in the room. Penelope wondered if maybe she could take a nap in the chair. That would be nice. She was so tired. It was probably because her sleep schedule was so fucked, but maybe also because her life was currently very exhausting.

“At least she apologized for yelling at you,” Landon supplied. Penelope smiled sadly.

“Yeah. That was actually really nice to hear. I’m glad that my very presence doesn’t hurt her.” She rubbed her eyes. “It is so hard to do this,” she said, her voice breaking. It was almost alarming how quickly this wave of emotions had just knocked into her. 

Hope walked over to her and crouched next to her chair, patting her shoulder. 

“Hey, it’s okay. You’re doing this because you needed a chance to grow without Josie. And you knew that your relationship wasn’t going well. You aren’t stupid, and as much as it hurts to be away from her right now, it’s for the best in the long run.” 

Penelope sniffled and laid her head on Hope’s shoulder.

“I know. It just sucks.”

Landon smiled up at them from his spot on the floor.

“You know, I was going to ask for love advice, but both of you are just sad, so I think I’ll just ask Raf.”

Both of them looked up at that.

“Love advice?”

“Why do you need love advice? The closest you’ve gotten to a relationship was the time that you asked Hope out,” Penelope snarked. 

Both Hope and Landon turned red at that and Penelope grinned. She loved bringing up that awkward time in their friendship.

“Can we not remember Year Nine? It was a terrible time,” Landon grumbled but Penelope didn’t feel like relenting yet.

“Nope. I will forever annoy both of you with the fact that there’s a universe out there where you’re together and you’re one of those gross ‘epic love’ couples.”

Hope rolled her eyes and shoved at Penelope’s shoulder.

“First of, you say that like you and Josie weren’t one of those couples. Second, Landon and I would be an adorable couple if I wasn’t in love with Lizzie and if he hadn’t gotten over me in like three seconds.”

Landon grinned.

“Exactly. We’d be the main characters.”

Penelope pretended to throw up.

“Yeah, and I’d be the one who gets written off, because my very presence would make everything too gay.”

Hope nodded, with her fake-serious expression.

“Yep. And Landon and I would be totally in love, even though I’d probably fall just a little bit for Lizzie anyways.”

Penelope shook her head.

“You’d be the couple that was cute at first and then gets annoying after like two weeks. Besides, we’re getting side-tracked. Why does Landon need love advice?” 

Landon blushed and looked at the ground.

“Well, you know how I sort of had a crush on the new guy?”

Hope and Penelope both nodded, remembering very well all of Landon’s rambling.

“Yeah, Ethan Machado, he’s a skater boy, and he plays football, and also Ryan in the musical, and he has a dimple in his cheek, and the most adorable smile,” Hope recounted, trying to imitate the love struck smile that Landon had that day. 

Landon groaned. “I didn’t talk about him all that much.”

“No, you totally did. Now, continue with the story,” Penelope told him. He smiled.

“Well, we’ve sort of been talking, and we’re friends now, and we’ve been texting, and I kinda get the vibe that he might be gay? Or bi, or pan, the point is that I think he likes guys, and I’m a guy, so like, there’s a chance.” It was the most awkward Landon ramble that Penelope had ever heard, but it was still kinda cute.

Hope rose an eyebrow.

“So, what exactly is our job here?”

He shrugged.

“I don’t know. Tell me what to do.”

“Why the hell would we know what to do?” Hope asked.

“Well, Penelope had a relationship, so she knows how to ask people out, and you had whatever that mess was with Roman—”

“Can we not bring that up?”

“—and so between the two of you, surely I can get a plan on how to ask this guy out,” Landon finished. 

Penelope and Hope looked at each other, both trying to mentally figure out what to do. Penelope didn’t really know what to do here. Apart from Josie, she hadn’t exactly ever been in a serious relationship, and with Josie, well, it had been straight out of a movie.

They’d been flirting for a while, and Penelope was pretty sure that Josie liked her. So, she’d taken Josie out to the fair that was in town, fully planning on confessing her feelings at the end of the night, or something cheesy like that. What had ended up happening was they’d gone on the Ferris Wheel and Josie had been scared of the heights. So, she’d asked for Penelope to distract her, and Penelope’s dumb gay brain had decided to kiss Josie.

She’d apologized like a million times, but then Josie had kissed her back, and Penelope didn’t remember anything else that had happened on that ride. But she did remember getting off the ride, Josie holding her hands and blushing, and Penelope telling her that she really liked her.

“Penelope, I swear to God that you are the most useless bi idiot that I’ve ever met,” Hope interrupted Penelope’s train of thought, shoving Penelope off of her chair. Well, she didn’t really shove Penelope off, more she shoved Penelope lightly, and Penelope just fell off because she wanted to annoy Hope, but still.

Hope rolled her eyes.

“You’re so dramatic.”

“You love me.”

“Sometimes.”

“Can we please focus?”

They looked at Landon. Penelope shrugged.

“Just ask him if he wants to hang out. Go to a café. Hold hands. Tell him that you like his style. I don’t know, most of my experience with dudes is just making out with them at parties,” Penelope complained. Landon looked to Hope, who sighed.

“Guys are stupid. Being attracted to them is the worst. He’ll probably think that you’re just bros until you propose. So, maybe drop hints about you liking guys, flirt with him, and maybe he’ll get the message.”

“How do you flirt?”

“Tell him that he’s a hot piece of ass,” Penelope interjected from her spot on the floor. 

“No, do not do that. Just compliment things about him casually. But don’t be creepy.”

Landon looked between the two of them, looking a little scared. Hope sighed. 

“Pen, you want to give him any actual advice?” 

Penelope decided that maybe she could be of some help. She looked at Landon, trying to put on her serious face.

“Just be yourself Lan. If he doesn’t want that, then you shouldn’t be in a relationship with him.”

Landon kept frowning.

“But I’m awkward, and I mess up basic sentences.”

“So? You were all of those things when we met you, and we still liked you enough to befriend you. If he’s not a dick, he’ll like you too,” Penelope told him. Landon still looked a little nervous, but he managed a smile.

“Thanks guys. I’ll try my best.”

Hope grinned at him.

“You’d better give us a full run down of everything that happens. We whine about our problems all the times, and this friendship is a three-way street.”

“That sounds like a really weird innuendo.”

“Shut up Park.” Hope tried glaring at Penelope, but they both ended up laughing, and then Landon joined in, and they were lost in a haze of teenage idiocy.

It was the closest thing to happiness that they had, and they thought that in that moment, they were okay with that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They're such idiots, and they are so fun to write!  
> I know a lot of you are pretty annoyed at Josie for leading Jade on, and don't worry guys, their relationship does not have much left to go, and Josie's going to learn from her mistakes and try to be better! And, there are some developments with Posie that I have planned in the near future of this fic, so just hold on a little longer.  
> The next chapter is Josie POV, and we get to see a lot of interactions between her and different characters in that one, as well as your regularly scheduled thoughts about Penelope, so hopefully I can upload that soon!   
> Until then, have a great day, and make sure that you stay hydrated!


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey I'm getting kinda good at this whole regular updates thing! This chapter is basically Josie Tries To Get Her Morals In Check With Guest Appearances From Almost Everyone.  
> Enjoy!

Josie knew that she wouldn’t be able to hide her act of theft from Lizzie for long. She just wasn’t expecting to be caught out the moment that Lizzie saw her.

“What did you do? Why do you look so worried?” Lizzie asked with a frown. Josie just kept walking. Lizzie jogged after her  
.  
“Josie, please tell me that there isn’t a dead body in there somewhere.”

“No dead body. Now, shut up and I’ll tell you everything when we get out.” Josie wouldn’t usually be so short, but she was a little bit full of nerves. She’d just stolen her sort of rival’s prized dancing shoes. This was the closest she’d ever come to the bad side of the law.

Unless you counted the times that she’d had sips of beer at Kaleb’s parties. Or the time that her and Penelope got high together. Still, this was a big moment. 

They didn’t speak until they were in the car and Lizzie had pulled them out of the carpark. Then Lizzie slapped Josie’s arm.

“Spill. What the hell did you do?”

Josie winced.

“Okay. now don’t get mad—”

“You are aware that when those words are said, what follows will likely make the listener mad?”

“…yes, but listen. I did what I did, and I do not regret what was done.” That was a partial lie. Half of Josie’s body was currently trying to tear itself away from her flesh, judging by the way that her hands were shaking. Seriously, why did all the badass genes go to Lizzie, it was so unfair.

“Okay. And, what, pray tell, was done?”

Josie bit her lip, waiting for as long as she possible could before telling Lizzie. It wasn’t that Lizzie would be disappointed, she’d probably be on board once Josie explained her side, but she just didn’t feel like making it all feel real. 

So, when she did finally say it, the words tumbled out over themselves as if they were in a rush to leave her mouth.

“Imayhavestolenmayasshoesbecauseshewasbeingabitchtomeandithinkshestheonewhostolemyphone,” she raced out. Lizzie blinked once, then twice, and then calmly asked.

“Did you just tell me that you stole Maya’s shoes?”

Josie nodded; mouth shut tight.

“Because she was being passive aggressive?”

Nod.

“And she might have been the one who stole your phone?”

Josie was sure that she looked like some sort of muppet right now. She nodded again. Lizzie was silent, and Josie knew well enough that this was the calm before the storm. She curled into herself just a little bit, as if to protect herself from what was sure to be a magnificent explosion. 

“Well, first of all, I would like to ask, what the actual fuck were you thinking?” Lizzie all but screeched. Josie winced again.

“I wasn’t really. I just had a lot of emotions, and no idea what to do with them—”

“So, you stole someone’s shoes?”

“They aren’t like her everyday shoes. They’re special shoes,” Josie clarified, realizing as she spoke that that did not make it better.

“Oh, my mistake. Let me try again. You had a lot of emotions so you stole someone’s special shoes, and you didn’t even consider that your actions may possibly have consequences?”

Josie folded her arms across her chest in a weak attempt at protecting herself.

“It’s not that big of a deal.”

“Josie, you could get in trouble for this. What if she realises what you did and goes to Kol?” 

Josie hadn’t yet thought of that terrifying opportunity, and great, now there was that thought running around in her mind. 

“Look, it was a bad idea, I know, and I’ll return them soon, but you would have done the same thing if you had been there.”

Lizzie snorted.

“Incorrect. If I caught her pulling passive aggressive bullshit, and thought that she stole my phone, I would have called her out to her face.”

She did have a point. Lizzie had never been one for holding back when she disliked someone. Josie had always been better at subtle revenges. Even if this wasn’t exactly subtle.

“Okay, fair. But you can’t be mad at me, please?”

Lizzie looked out at the road, and Josie started to wonder more and more with every second that passed if maybe she’d messed up badly this time. 

“I suppose you’re right,” Lizzie finally said, and it was so stupid how relieved Josie felt at those simple words. 

“After all, I have done some very petty things in my life. If this is your way of finally letting some of those pent-up emotions loose, then I must surely support you.”

Josie rolled her eyes.

“What pent up emotions?”

Lizzie looked over at her, and Josie was a little surprised to see that she actually looked serious.

“Josie, you never talk about any of your feelings or do anything about them.”

Josie opened her mouth to object, to tell Lizzie that she did do things with her emotions, that she wrote about them in her diary, or that sometimes she just yelled at Penelope. To be fair, the latter wasn’t healthy, nor was it nice, and Penelope probably didn’t deserve it, but well, she had a lot of Penelope related emotions, and who better to release them at than Penelope.

But Lizzie was right. Josie was sort of really good at bottling up feelings and not talking about them. It wasn’t a bad thing, because she knew so many people who had it worse than her. Sure, her heart had been broken, and she had a handful of insecurities that managed to plague her nearly every day, but her sister literally had bipolar disorder. 

Josie was okay with setting aside her needs for other people. That was her job. Penelope had never liked it when Josie said things like that. She’d thought that Josie should open up, should communicate when things upset her. Josie had thought that Penelope was making a big deal out of nothing.

She realised that she needed to answer Lizzie still, so she sighed and said,

“It’s fine, okay? I’ll just return the shoes later, and we can all just forget about this.”

Lizzie frowned.

“I just don’t want you to do something that you’ll regret.”

“They’re shoes Lizzie.”

“I know. But I know you. And I know that you always feel really guilty when you hurt people.”

Josie was silent again. Lizzie had a point. Josie had been the type of kid to cry when she stepped on an ant. She definitely had a memory of them holding a funeral for a ladybug. 

Not to mention, when she’d fought with Hope, and when she’d snapped at Penelope, she’d felt awful about it afterwards. Just because she had a darker side didn’t mean that the main side of her liked it. 

She didn’t say anything this time, deciding to just stare out the window, watching trees and houses flying past. Lizzie sighed, but didn’t try to continue the conversation. Suddenly, the shoes at the bottom of her bag felt so much heavier.

+++

That night, Josie couldn’t sleep. Lizzie’s words had really struck a chord inside of her, and now she didn’t feel like she’d struck back epically in whatever type of battle was going on between her and Maya, if there was one at all. She just felt sick. 

Josie didn’t seem to have the stomach to do things like this. It was just one stupid thing, and she was already feeling guilty. Stupid conscience. 

She couldn’t put down her phone, and she just kept flicking through videos and pictures, whilst listening to a song that she couldn’t even name, because she was just so distracted. 

Her thumb unconsciously moved to her messages, and she started scrolling through them. Her heart jumped when she saw Penelope’s name, and then cursed herself. She really should just delete that contact. But, her and Penelope were just starting to be friends again, so surely, she could keep it.

She shouldn’t tap on the contact. She shouldn’t scroll through old messages between her and Penelope. The last time she’d done that, she’d ended up in tears. She already felt bad enough, she didn’t need nostalgia from a broken relationship to hurt her as well.

Josie tried to imagine what Penelope would say about the whole stealing thing. On the one hand, she’d be proud of Josie standing up for herself, for not letting Maya just walk over her. On the other hand, she would’ve preferred that Josie not do something like this. She would have wanted Josie to look Maya in the eyes, and tell her what she thought.

Josie wished that she could do that. Wished that she was brave enough to stand up for herself instead of just deciding that it wasn’t worth it. That she wasn’t worth it. 

She just wanted to text Penelope, to ask her what she thought. Because the Penelope that Josie had grown up with, the Penelope she’d loved would have talked to her calmly. She would have told Josie what she thought, and she would’ve asked Josie to tell her how she felt.

How she really felt, not how she was expected to feel. That was the thing that Penelope had always been particular about. She’d always seen straight through Josie when she’d lied about how she was feeling. Penelope could always see the pain when Josie said she was fine, the sadness when she said she was happy, or the disappointment when she tried to be okay with something going wrong.

Josie wondered if Penelope could tell that Josie was still in love with her, if she knew that Josie didn’t really hate her, not at all. If despite all the harsh words, and glares, Penelope could see the truth that Josie had been fighting. 

Josie didn’t even know if she wanted Penelope to know. Because if Penelope knew, then didn’t that just make her so much more pathetic? Penelope had looked her in the eyes and told her that she didn’t love her and that she didn’t think that she ever would. And Josie still loved her.

Despite everything, Josie still loved her. 

She was such a shitty girlfriend. Hopefully, hanging out with Jade on the weekend would help her slowly start falling for the person that she should be in love with. 

+++

Josie was totally intending to return Maya’s stuff first thing. That was 100% the plan. She was going to go up to Maya at her locker, and hold out her shoes, and apologise for what she had done. 

That hadn’t exactly panned out properly. 

Because Josie had accidentally overheard Maya talking to Alyssa as she and Lizzie had passed by the drama room. They could have kept walking but Lizzie had decided that it was a good time to go in and try and return Maya’s shoes. Then they’d heard what Maya and Alyssa were saying.

“I just really think that this show deserves better,” Maya said, with a fair amount of annoyance in her voice.

“Yeah, I totally understand. Believe me, I think everyone’s a little disappointed that Kol’s wasting this show on her,” Alyssa replied.

Josie quickly pulled Lizzie behind a costume rack and together they laid in wait to listen into the conversation. Judging by their words, Josie was the main topic of the conversation, and she was honestly a little interested in what they had to say.

“She can’t even do basic choreography. Plus, did you see her today? The girl cannot act.” Maya scoffed. “I just think I would have been a better choice.” 

“I feel the same. Usually Lizzie’s the sister who gets everything, but I guess Josie also has the ability to steal the spotlight.” 

Josie had to physically grab onto Lizzie’s arm to stop her from jumping out and yelling at them. To be fair though, she had half a mind to do it herself. 

But she just waited instead. 

“Lizzie? Isn’t she just that makeup girl?”

“Yeah, but she used to go out for leads and stuff. Usually though Penelope would beat her, and Lizzie would throw a tantrum. Josie’s usually just a boring chorus girl. To be perfectly honest, we all usually forget about her in the chaos of Lizzie.”

Maya hummed, as if she was considering something and Alyssa just laughed. 

“Come on, first period is starting soon.”

“Yeah, just a second, I need to go to the bathroom.”

“Okay, I need to touch up my makeup anyways.” 

Josie and Lizzie watched as the two girls walked past them. The moment they were gone, they both looked down at the bag where the golden shoes sat.

“Those are not getting returned any time soon. This is war now,” Lizzie seethed. Usually, Josie would try to calm Lizzie down, try to rationalise, but after hearing that, she didn’t really feel like being rational. 

“She can deal without her magic shoes for one rehearsal.”

Lizzie nodded. “I’m going to make it my personal mission to take as much of her stuff as possible.”

“Lizzie!”

“No, the moment she mentioned my name, this became my problem, and I will not hesitate to fight back. If she tries anything at rehearsal today, I’m going off at her, and no one can stop me.”

It was at this moment that Hope came around the corner. She saw the looks on Lizzie and Josie’s faces and frowned.

“Okay, what happened?” She asked as she rushed over to them. Josie sighed.

“We just heard Maya and Alyssa shit talking us and so we’re declaring war.”

Hope rose an eyebrow.

“What does war entail exactly?”

“Well, I stole her dancing shoes yesterday, so it means not returning them.”

Hope nodded slowly, seemingly deciding that the theft of the shoes wasn’t the major thing to focus on. 

“What did she say exactly?”

Josie was about to answer, but Lizzie cut her off.

“That Kol is wasting the production on Josie, that she’s a boring chorus girl, and that everyone forgets about her in the wake of my chaos.”

Hope stared at them both for a moment, blinked a couple of times, and then nodded.

“Right. When Alyssa turns up to rehearsals with a black eye, it had nothing to do with me.” Hope was about to turn and leave but Josie grabbed her jacket.

“Hope no.”

“Hope yes. I’m not letting them get away with this.”

“No physical violence,” Josie told her sternly. Hope looked at Lizzie, who sighed.

“She’s right. We’d probably get suspended.” Lizzie looked down at her watch and sighed again.

“Sorry, I’ve gotta get to class. We’re discussing this at recess with MG and Raf though.”

Once Lizzie had sped off, Josie turned to Hope.

“Can you promise me something?”

Hope frowned.

“Yes, but I draw the line at slaughtering their families. Plus, Ethan’s cool, and I can’t kill him right now.”

Josie flicked Hope’s shoulder.

“Be serious.”

“I am serious!”

“Right, well…” she paused and looked off into the distance, trying to decide whether or not it was worth saying. She eventually settled on, yes, she should definitely say it to avoid a murder. 

“Can you promise me that you won’t tell Penelope about any of this?”

Hope’s frown deepened.

“Why not?”

Josie sighed, folding her arms across her chest.

“You know Penelope. She is very very protective, and I don’t want her doing anything stupid.”

Hope rose an eyebrow.

“I thought you were under the opinion that Penelope doesn’t care about you.”

Josie looked at the ground, a little embarrassed. That could possibly true, but Josie still remembered the time that Penelope had punched Connor in the face because he’d called Josie a bitch. She’d once been Josie’s number one protector, just slightly beating out Lizzie, and that was only because Lizzie was just a little bit more focused on protecting herself.

Penelope was the type of person who would ignore all criticisms about herself, but the moment someone said something about Josie, she would go off.

“Even if she doesn’t love me, she was still my best friend, and I know she still cares just a little bit. And I know her. So, please don’t tell her,” Josie pleaded. Hope sighed.

“Okay, fine, I won’t tell her. But she’ll probably find out, and I cannot be held accountable for her actions if she does.” She looked up at Josie. “Is there anything else you want me to do? I could probably convince Kol to cut Maya’s lines if you want.”

Josie shook her head quickly.

“Don’t do anything like that. I’m just going to withhold her special dancing shoes from her for a rehearsal. Let her feel uncertain for once. And then I’ll sneak them into her backpack and make her go slowly insane.”

Hope nodded slowly.

“Sounds like a great plan. I’ll try my best to stop Lizzie from committing a felony.” 

Josie smiled thankfully, and they headed off to their separate lessons.

+++

Josie was heading to hang out with all of her friends, when Jade texted her.

**Jade <3: hey, do you want to have lunch with me**

**Jade <3: like, just me**

**Jade <3: i miss u**

Josie found herself smiling at the messages. As much as she liked hanging out with her friends, it would be really nice to just be with her girlfriend. In the chaos of the past few days, she’d barely seen or texted her. 

**Josie: I miss you too**

**Josie: Where do you want to meet?**

**Jade <3: how about outside by the tree**

**Josie: perfect**

Jade was already sitting there when Josie got outside. She slid into the seat next to Jade, and softly kissed her. She hadn’t gotten this chance in ages.

Her garbage brain decided that now was a good time to think about how when she’d been with Penelope, they’d barely gone a day without kissing. Penelope had liked making it well known to everyone that she was Josie’s girlfriend. 

And Josie had loved it. Loved knowing that Penelope was hers, loved being able to kiss her whenever she wanted. Some nights, she’d find her mind drifting to thoughts of her soft lips, the way she tasted. 

Not just at night, apparently, she realised as she pulled back from kissing Jade. Not for the first time this week, and for probably not the last, she thought to herself that she was such a shitty girlfriend. She told herself, that if she’d didn’t start falling for Jade properly soon, she might have to consider breaking things off. It just really wasn’t fair to her.

No. Don’t think about breaking up with your caring and lovely girlfriend after she just met up with you for a private lunch because she missed you. How selfish can you get Josie?

Although, maybe it was selfish staying with her, knowing that she still had very strong feelings for Penelope. Even if Jade cared about her and was the best girlfriend, surely it'd be better to let her love someone who wasn't emotionally unavailable. 

Just give it the weekend. And stop thinking negative thoughts while your girlfriend is talking to you!

For the rest of the lunch, Josie tried her best to not be the actual worst. She listened to Jade complain about homework, and talk about funny things that had happened when she’d been hanging out with Wendy. She mostly just sat and nodded. 

And wondered what Jade would say about the shoes in her backpack. Jade was an upstanding person, who didn’t like it when people went against the rules. If you looked up exemplary student and all-round person in the dictionary, you’d probably find a picture of Jade.

Still she was Josie’s girlfriend, and that had to count for something, right?

So, when Jade asked her about how she’d been and if anything interesting had happened, Josie nervously laughed, and told her.

“Well, Maya passive aggressively attacked me and talked about me behind my back, plus, I think she stole my phone, so I stole her dancing shoes.”

Jade actually choked on the water that she’d just taken a sip of. Josie winced.

“Woah, okay, hold on. Why do you think she stole your phone? I thought you just misplaced it; how can you think that someone would steal it?” 

Josie frowned.

“Well, she planned a meetup during the time when I didn’t have my phone, and I know that she wanted me to look bad in front of Kol, so surely that means that she stole my phone.”

Jade shook her head frantically. 

“Josie, even if that made any sense, stealing someone’s property is wrong. I mean, it’s not you. Not the you I met during the summer anyway.”

Josie’s frown deepened at the judgmental tone in Jade’s voice.

“What do you mean ‘the me you met during the summer’? I’m the same person.”

Jade sighed and avoided Josie’s gaze. Oh, so there was a problem? Interesting. 

“Jade. What are you talking about?”

Jade frowned and looked back up at Josie.

“I don’t know, it just feels like ever since we’ve been back at school, you’ve been, I don’t know…distant.”

Josie wanted to be outraged, to tell Jade that nothing changed when they got back to school, but she knew that would be a lie. Because during the summer, Josie and Jade had been in a paradise where Penelope Park did not exist. And then they’d gotten back, and there she was, every day, with her smile, and her shining green eyes, and amazing fashion sense, and face that came with a thousand memories.

So, maybe Jade had a point. But that didn’t mean that Josie had to like it.

“How does me being distant have anything to do with me being a completely different person?”

Jade sighed with frustration and stood up.

“I’m not saying anything. All I mean is that I think that stealing is bad, and you aren’t that type of person. Josie, you’re way better than that, you know that doing things like this is bad, and it hurts people.” For some reason, it didn’t seem like Jade was talking solely about this situation. There was just something about the way that she couldn’t meet Josie’s eyes that made Josie just a little bit suspicious.

Josie scoffed.

“Well I’m sorry that I’m not the perfect princess that you wanted.” Okay, maybe she was getting weirdly defensive over this, especially since she’d been thinking the same thing, barely twelve hours ago at night, but Jade was being weird and she was overreacting.

Maybe this was a both of them problem. And maybe them fighting like this wouldn’t solve anything.

“Josie, that’s not what I meant,” Jade tried to explain, but Josie just held up a hand.

“Look, I’m just gonna go clear my head before the next lesson. Us fighting over this isn’t going to do anything. And for the record, I’m going to return the shoes.” She turned and walked away, ignoring Jade’s attempts at apology. 

She found herself in the bathroom, splashing water on her face. It was probably a bad move, because it ended in getting water droplets all over her nice white shirt. Just as she was about to consider skipping class, one of the stall doors opened.

“We need to stop meeting here, people will start to think something’s up.”

Josie spun around to see Penelope walking out to wash her hands in the sink next to hers. Josie’s hands wrapped around the sink as she cursed the universe again for having terrible timing.

“So, what brings you here? Because I know you, and if you’re splashing water on your face, it means something got you worked up.”

Josie, for one very stupid second, considering telling Penelope the whole truth. Then she remembered that ranting about her girlfriend to her ex was the definition of a bad idea. Especially when she could tell that Penelope and Jade hated each other.

“Can you answer something honestly for me?” Josie asked. Penelope frowned, but nodded.

“If someone was talking shit about me, and I happened to come into possession of one of their items, as payback, would you consider that to be morally corrupt?”

Penelope blinked.

“Someone was talking shit about you?”

“Penelope, focus.”

“Okay, I’ll let that slide, because this is a hypothetic situation, and you asked for advice. Right, well, I’d say that if anyone says anything bad about you, do what you want, because they suck.” Penelope finished by throwing Josie a lopsided grin. Josie couldn’t help but smile in return.

“Thanks,” Josie told her genuinely, blushing just a little. 

“Now, do you want me to do anything, or is this a ‘Penelope don’t you dare do anything’ situation. Because, you know, I’m trying to be a better person, and observe boundaries and everything.”

Ugh, could Penelope, please, stop being nice, and stop respecting Josie’s wishes. Because it was really not making it easy for Josie to hate her. Although, maybe at this point that whole thing was out the window. 

“Don’t do anything. Honestly, I just want this situation to be over. I’m just getting confused because I can’t tell if I did the right thing or not.”

Penelope bobbed her head.

“I’m not going to say anything, because we both know I’m not exactly the pinnacle of morality, but if you think that you’ve made the right move, you should trust yourself. But I know you Josie, and you know when you’ve done something that feels wrong. So, if this feels wrong, then maybe it is. Who cares what other people think, what do you think?”

Josie sighed, thinking back to what Lizzie had said, how she’d just been worried that Josie was going to do something that wasn’t her. She’d spent the whole day, asking other people what they thought that she should do, and she’d somehow forgotten to ask herself.

And the truth? 

Stealing someone’s stuff didn’t feel right. It didn’t make her feel better about Maya being passive aggressive, it didn’t make up for the missed rehearsal, and it didn’t make her a better person. She should just talk to Maya, should’ve done that in the first place. 

Penelope pushed herself off of the counter where she had been leaning.

“I’d say you’re welcome, because it seems like that you came to a rather significant conclusion, but we both know that you could have done it without my help. I’ll leave you alone.” And then she was gone, the door swinging behind her.

Josie spent the next ten minutes trying to wipe a smile off of her face at the fact that her and Penelope had had a casual interaction that didn’t end in someone getting upset.

+++

Rehearsal was different than usual. For starters, Kol sent most of the cast to go paint sets, claiming that he just wanted to work Jade and Ethan specifically today. 

Josie and Jade still hadn’t really made up from their fight at lunch. So, she let her friends distract her as they painted the lockers that they would have in the background.

MG dropped down next to her.

“Jo, hey, it feels like we haven’t spoken in ages.”

Josie smiled at him. MG was the one out of all the boys she knew that she was closest with. She’d always known him, he’d been going here since Kindergarten, but they’d only become close in Middle School. His nerdy jokes and awkwardness had won her over, and they’d been friends ever since.

Plus, once you create a sort of rap song with someone, there’s no going back.

“I’ve been really busy. It feels like there’s so much going on at all times. With all the drama, I barely have time for assignments.”

He chuckled.

“Tell me about it. Although, I think your drama is less ‘choreographing dances’ and more ‘finally started talking to one of your best friends again’.”

Josie rolled her eyes as she laughed.

“True. Although, I won’t have you doubting my dedication to this play,” she told him, threateningly waving a paintbrush at him. He jumped back.

“Hey, that’s got paint on it, and I like this shirt.”

“Calm down I wouldn’t do anything.”

“Like hell you wouldn’t. I haven’t forgotten the great paint war of Year 8.”

“I won that!” Lizzie called from where her, Raf, and Hope were making, what appeared to be, the New Year’s Party scene. There were certainly a lot more balloons than Josie had anticipated.

“No, you didn’t,” Hope retorted, which led to the two of them bickering as Raf watched with amusement.

The thing about Hope and Lizzie, was that everyone knew that there was something going on between them. Rafael had dated Lizzie, and even he knew. Apparently, she had spent way too much time focusing on Hope instead of him. It was one of the main reasons why they hadn’t worked out.

MG had once had a little crush on Lizzie, but got over it when she turned him down. It had been a little messy, but he’d decided to ‘deal with it like a real man’, which meant continuing to be Lizzie’s friend and to care about her. Josie was grateful for that. She wouldn’t have liked to lose MG. 

MG had noted that Lizzie spent a lot of time talking about and staring at Hope, and he'd mentioned it to Lizzie, which had resulted in her ignoring him for three days. So, he had not mentioned it ever again, but Josie knew that he saw the same thing that everyone else did. 

“So, how’s the girlfriend?” He asked conversationally. Josie winced and he rose an eyebrow.

“That bad huh?”

She sighed.

“No, more just…complicated.”

He nodded.

“Right, because you still have feelings for Penelope, and both of you are ignoring it.”

Josie turned red, and said nothing. Her feelings for Penelope were not up for discussion.

“It’s okay, I won’t judge you. I’m just saying that maybe you should talk about it.”

Josie shook her head.

“Jade really doesn’t like Penelope. Also, I don’t know what I could say that would make her feel better about the whole thing.”

MG opened his mouth, as if to speak, then closed it. Josie eyed him suspiciously.

“What?”

“Nope, not my place to say.”

“You can’t just say that.”

“Yes, I can,” he told her, dabbing his brush into some more grey paint. Josie frowned.

“Rude.”

“You still love me though, right?” He asked with a grin. Josie nudged him.

“Of course.”

+++

The moment that rehearsals ended, Josie went to Maya, who was with Alyssa by the cardboard trees. 

“I need to speak with you,” Josie told her, and then with a glance at Alyssa, added, “alone.”

Maya rose an eyebrow.

“Is there a reason?”

Josie nodded.

“Just come with me, I have to talk to you.”

Maya didn’t look all that happy about it, but she followed Josie. Josie led her out to the corridor and pulled out her bag.

“If now is the time where you pull a knife on me and tell me to give you my money, I’m afraid to tell you that I will put you in a headlock,” Maya told her with a deadpan expression. Josie rolled her eyes.

“No, I just wanted to let you know that I have…come into possession of a few of your items, and I wanted to return them.”

Maya frowned.

“Like what?”

Josie opened her bag, and pulled out Maya’s shoes. And then her water bottle, and her pink bottle of hand sanitiser, and both of her yellow highlighters. What could she say? Lizzie had gotten a little carried away when Maya had left the room to go to the bathroom during one of their shared subjects.

Maya stared at Josie, looking a little surprised, so Josie rushed into an explanation.

“I was mad at you for being passive aggressive, and also I overheard you talking about me behind my back, and also I thought for some reason that you were the one who stole my phone, and I sort of stole some of your stuff. But I realised that that was wrong, and I should have just talked to you.”

Maya didn’t say anything, but Josie noted that she looked just a little bit impressed. So, she just barrelled onwards with what she had to say. 

“If you keep treating me like an enemy, and if you keep trying to do things that actively sabotage me, then I just want you to know that I’m not just going to lay down and let you walk over me. I will not be an easy target, so don’t try it. Also, I’m sorry for stealing your stuff.”

Maya slowly nodded as she took back her stuff.

“Well, that’s one way to react I suppose. I was kinda hoping that you’d throw a temper tantrum and get kicked out but…” she trailed off and then shook her head, the hint of a genuine smile on her lips. “You know what Forbes-Laughlin? You could’ve been a bitch, but you didn’t, and that’s not something a lot of people do, especially in theatre.”

Josie had no idea what the hell that meant. Was Maya going to back off? Did she steal her phone?

Maya put her stuff in her own bag and pulled it over her own shoulder.

“I’ll back off with the direct sabotage. And, as a thank you for not burning my stuff or whatever, I’ll let you in on a secret. I did steal your phone, but only to give it to someone else who wanted it.”

Josie’s mouth fell open.

“Who did you give it to?” She asked, her confusion growing more and more by the second. 

Maya sighed.

“If you don’t know by the end of the weekend, come to me on Monday, and I’ll let you know. I just want to give them a chance to not be a jerk. And, maybe I’m not done with messing with your head.” She gave Josie a grin that was much closer to the usual fake smile that she wore. “See you around Forbes-Laughlin.”

Josie was left standing outside the room, brain swirling with words.

What the hell did that mean?

Someone had stolen her phone, no, gotten Maya to steal her phone, and then done who knows what with it. And who would do such a thing? Was it Alyssa? Who else on the cast hated her that much that they’d gotten someone else to steal her phone? 

And why the hell had they wanted it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Josie does have a moral compass! And she got through a conversation with Penelope without yelling, and that's always a plus!  
> As for the phone thief, if you've seen the show, you probably know who it is, but if you haven't that will be revealed in the next chapter. Although, most of you have already figured it out!  
> Next up, we have Penelope POV! It's 50% her being ready to throw hands, and 50% her talking to her friends about wanting to throw hands, but I feel like at this point, that's not at all a surprise!  
> Until then, I hope your vibes are utterly immaculate!


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writers block and constant exhaustion are the reasons why this took so long, sorry!  
> But, this chapter we get Penelope being pissed, the reveal of who stole Josie's phone, and Penelope's friends being supportive and stupid.  
> Enjoy!

Penelope had been so close to calling this day good. So very close. 

That statement had nothing to do with the actual content of the school part of the day. There had been too much note taking, and boring lectures for Penelope to really call that good.

No, the good part came because Penelope had interacted with Josie. And it had been a good interaction, and she’d made Josie smile, and she had made Josie feel better. She’d actually done something to improve Josie’s mood, rather than just making it worse.

That was progress, right?

So, she’d been about to put a shiny star on today and call it a good day, and skip all the way home, and then lie on her bed giggling like a child who’d been complimented by their crush. Yes, she was seriously considering being that pathetic. Hope would literally never have let her hear the end of it.

And then the afternoon had come. 

Penelope had gone with Hope and Landon to paint sets. Hope had ended up with Lizzie, so Penelope and Landon had just stuck to getting tables for the cafeteria scenes. 

Then Kaleb had come in halfway through and asked Penelope to come to the other room. The room where Jade and Ethan were currently running through some of their scenes. 

She already knew where this was going. Kol was going to try his best to get Jade and Penelope to bond, and it would not work, because Jade was a jealous monster, and Penelope didn’t really react well to angry glares every second of the day.

Penelope should really just pull Jade aside and tell her that there was no chance of her and Josie getting back together, that Josie liked Jade now, and that wasn’t going to change.   
Even if a small part of her still wanted Penelope, Josie was smart, and she wouldn’t let that part of her get out of control. 

Josie knew which girl she loved, and which girl broke her heart. 

As the two of them waited outside for Jade and Ethan to finish up, Penelope struck up conversation with Kaleb.

“What’s up K?” 

He looked up and her and smiled.

“Nothing much, just trying to figure out a way that this won’t end in blood.” 

Penelope chuckled. "You're gonna be thinking for a while. I genuinely don't know what Kol is thinking if he thinks that Jade's gonna work with me."

He sighed. “Kol is of the opinion that if you just work together and get to know each other, things might be okay. I’ve tried to tell him that it won’t work, but that man is annoyingly persistent.”

Penelope shrugged.

“He’s a Mikaelson, why would we expect anything less? You’ve met Hope, she is literally the most stubborn person in the world.”

Kaleb laughed.

“You say that, but I have it on good authority that you are so much worse than her. I could bring out an itemised list of all the dramatic things you’ve done. My personal favourite would have to be the time that you debated with the teacher about the true meaning of Romeo and Juliet for a whole lesson, and then came to class the next day with a PowerPoint backing up your point, just so that you could say that you won.”

Penelope smiled at the memory. That had been so good. She’d been right, and she’d proved her point. Not to mention, Josie apparently found Penelope being extremely passionate about stupid things extremely hot.

“I don’t regret that one bit.”

“Of course, you don’t. It was badass, but still stubborn. You just had to get the last word.”

Penelope rolled her eyes.

“Says the guy who is literally part of the debate team. You once made MG cry during a practice debate.”

Kaleb laughed.

“That boy is easily intimidated. Plus, I apologised, because I’m a good friend like that.”

Kol opened the door.

“Penelope, come in.”

Kaleb gave Penelope a pat on the shoulder, and then followed Kol inside. Once they were on the stage, Jade and a couple other actors gathered opposite Penelope. Ethan, the boy that Landon was crushing on, walked up next to Penelope, and offered her a friendly nod. Penelope nodded back.

“Today I’ve been running Ethan and Jade through Bop to the Top. It’s important that they establish a connection early on, as they are playing the dynamic duo of Ryan and Sharpay,” Kol explained. 

Penelope rose her hand. “Why am I here then?”

Kol grinned.

“Excellent question Miss Park. I brought you here, because I believe that there is some unwanted tension between you and Miss Caswell. So, I wanted to do some warmups to get the energy flowing between the two of you.”

Penelope looked at the others in the room.

“And why are they here?”

“I thought it might be less awkward for the two of you if there were other people in here. Also, I’d like witnesses if this does go pear-shaped.” He gave them both a grin, but neither of them laughed.

He sighed and walked over to a basketball lying on one of the prop racks.

“Please pass this ball between the two of you, and say positive things. They don’t have to be about each other, just make them not insulting or negative in any way.”

Ah yes, because Penelope was brilliant at being nice to people. This would go swimmingly. 

Jade’s arms were still folded, and her friend, who Penelope was pretty sure was called Wendy, was watching her with a fair amount of trepidation. Penelope wondered if they’d had gossip sessions about her. It was strangely touching to know that she’d gotten under Jade’s skin that much.

“Would one of you girls please like to take the ball?” Kol was almost pleading them at this point. Penelope took pity on him, and took the ball. Ethan stepped back and so did all those near Jade.

Penelope tried her best to think of something positive that wasn’t ‘hey I talked to your girlfriend today and it was in the Top 3 moments of this week’.

She didn’t feel like starting a war this early on.

“I really think this production is going well,” she said, and tossed the ball to Jade, who caught it with ease.

“I think Ethan and I are doing well,” Jade replied and threw it back to Penelope. Ethan gave Jade a little smile, but he still looked worried.

“I think that all our actors are talented.” 

Jade paused for a moment, and then looked at Penelope with something halfway between jealousy and anger.

Possession. That was the word. 

“I think that my girlfriend is amazing.”

Oh. So that was how she wanted to play it. Well then, Penelope would not disappoint. 

“I think Josie is the best actress in this play.” 

Kol opened his mouth, as if to call for them to stop, but they were both dead set on continuing whatever this happened to be.

“You deserve everything that’s coming to you,” Jade told her with a sickeningly sweet smile. 

“Right back at you,” Penelope replied, injecting as much venom into her words as possible.

"I think your reputation at this school is exactly right."

Oh, Jade was gonna have to try harder if she wanted to make Penelope upset.

"I think the way you pretend to know how to dance is inspiring."

Jade paused for a moment, the smile dropping for a moment to give way to a hateful glare, before popping right back up. “I'm glad that you let Josie go, because now she can be with someone who's worth it." 

Penelope almost felt pain at that, because wow, Jade had really hit the nail on the head there, hadn't she? Penelope wasn't good enough for Josie, they both knew it. 

Kol tried to interject. "Girls, I think we should-"

“I have no idea how someone like you ended up with Josie, but I think you should count yourself lucky.” Penelope sent the ball back forcefully, not even realising how hard they were both throwing it. Jade sent it back, and it nearly took Penelope’s head off.

“And I hope you know that you're nothing to her now, and you never were."

Penelope felt a wave of rage rise up inside of her, half of it directed at Jade for saying that, half of it at herself, because she had been thinking that for so long. That was one of the reasons why she'd ended it, hadn't she? Jade knew that those words were basically a punch in Penelope's face and she didn’t care one bit, because they both had feelings for the same girl, and this could only end in hate.

Penelope didn’t even bother saying something, she just threw the ball at Jade. And maybe accidentally miscalculated, because the next thing she knew, the ball was hitting Jade square in the face, and she was dropping to the ground, hands covering her face. Penelope immediately felt regret wash over her. She may hate Jade, but she never wanted to physically hurt her.

Even if there was an evil monster inside of her that was cackling. That was not the part that Penelope wanted to listen to. That was the part she didn’t want to be.

Kol rushed over to Jade, who looked back at Penelope, blood trickling onto her hand. Penelope winced, mouth falling open to speak quicker than she could even think.

“I’m sorry.” The words felt empty, especially with the glare that Jade was giving her, but she meant them.

Kol sighed and pulled Jade up.

“Right, why don’t you go to the bathroom and clean up. Maybe get an icepack from the office for your lip, that’ll swell. Everyone else, rehearsal is officially over, please head out. Penelope, stay.”

Kaleb gave Penelope a worried look, and she tried her best to give him a grin, a normal casual Penelope Park grin of ‘don’t worry about it’, but she suspected that the worry in her eyes betrayed her just a little bit too much.

Once everyone was gone, Penelope rose her head, trying to appear strong. She didn’t know why, although it was probably something she had learnt from her mother. Head up straight, don’t show weakness, that’s not how a Park acts Penelope.

“Penelope, you want to explain what happened there?” Kol asked, and Penelope’s stomach was already churning with worry. She wanted Kol to like her so badly, wanted to have at least one authority figure that cared about her and believed in her. If she kept fucking up like this, she would probably get kicked from the production, and she’d lose one of the few good things in her life, and everything would be so bad, and she really needed to breathe because it felt like a balloon was blowing up in her chest. 

“Penelope, hey, it’s alright, you’re not in trouble. I just want to hear your side of what that was,” he told her, worry in his voice. Penelope took a shaky breath, trying to hide every ounce of emotion that she was feeling.

“I didn’t want to start anything, but she was trying to get a rise out of me, and I don’t let people walk over me, so I fought back. I didn’t mean to hurt her, I swear.”

He nodded.

“I can tell. Emotion just got the best of you, and that’s alright. I just wanted to see today if the two of you could work together, and make no mistake, I did notice that Miss Caswell was the one to start the altercation, and I will be talking to her. Those last few were a bit too personal, I’m guessing, and she should be more professional than that. I won’t put the two of you in any more of those situations unless absolutely needed, okay?” 

Penelope nodded, and he patted her shoulder.

“Alright, that’s all. Just try not to physically inure your castmates in the future, and maybe try your hand at an apology. Obviously there's a lot of animosity there, maybe you could do something to fix it. If she doesn’t take it, well, that’s on her.” He shrugged, and Penelope left the room.

She was considering just leaving, but something in her, probably the part that desperately needed to impress any and all authority figures, told her that maybe an apology would do good. Maybe she could at least try to talk to Jade outside of a dumb drama activity that was doomed to fail.

So, she headed into the bathroom that Jade was most likely in. 

Penelope found her standing by the sink, shirt off, leaving her only in her bra. Penelope’s eyes may have wandered, and for a moment, she understood why Josie found appeal in this girl. Then she remembered that Jade was literally the worst, and that disappeared.

Jade looked up and scoffed.

“If you’re here to injure me anymore, I’ll have to let you know that you got lucky, and if you touch me again, I’ll break your arm.”

Penelope laughed.

“Okay tough girl, ease up. I was coming to check on you, because, well, I did sort of injure you. Apologies for that by the way, I try to draw the lines at physically hurting people.”  
Jade rolled her eyes, and pulled her shirt back over her head.

“Oh yeah, as long as you draw the line at physically hurting people it’s fine, right? After all, sticks and stones, right?”

Penelope frowned. What the hell was she going on about?

“What’s your problem Caswell? I literally just apologised, and you’re taking shots at me.”

Jade stepped closer.

“Well, it was a pretty shit apology. You may not have noticed, Park, but I really don’t like you, and you need to leave me and Josie alone.”

Oh, so she was bringing Josie into it. Real nice. 

“Josie isn’t your property; I can talk to her if I want.”

“When are you going to get the message? She doesn’t want you talking to her. And that includes whatever the hell that voicemail was trying to be. It’s not exactly classy to be flirting with a taken girl you know.”

What. The. Fuck.

Why had Jade heard the voicemail? Had Josie…let her listen to it? Surely not, right? Josie would have known that it was a private thing, and that Penelope didn’t want others listening to it. Besides, she hadn’t even mentioned it to Penelope. 

But the little voice in the back of her head seemed to be able to see the scene very clearly. Josie thought that Penelope was pathetic, and played Jade the message, and they’d laughed about it together. Josie hated Penelope, and made fun of her to Jade, and they mocked her together.

Penelope knew that Josie hated her, but she’d still thought that maybe ten years of friendship meant something. Had thought that there was still some trust left between them. 

Apparently not. 

“What did you just say?” Penelope asked, half hoping that she’d misheard Jade. Jade took another step, and then shoved at Penelope’s shoulders.

“I told you to stay away from my girlfriend, and to stop leaving creepy voice messages. She wants nothing to do with you, okay?”

Penelope wanted to shove Jade back, to say some cutting remark, but her arms were limp at her side, and her mind was empty.

“You know, I know exactly why Josie hates you. It’s not exactly hard to see. And one day, so will everyone else, and you’ll get what’s coming to you. I for one cannot wait for that day.” With that, Jade scoffed, and shoved past Penelope as she left the bathroom. The door slammed, and a tear ran down Penelope’s cheek, one that was furiously scrubbed away by Penelope’s hand.

She looked at herself in the mirror. What a fucking wreck. Maybe she should get some sleep. Josie had used to always complain about how bad Penelope’s sleep schedule was for her. 

Although, if Josie was bitching about Penelope behind her back, then maybe her opinion didn’t matter anymore. 

Penelope knew that she was stupid for still caring about Josie, but this brought it to a whole other level.

Suddenly, she was filled with anger, this time, at Josie. She needed to find her, needed to talk to her about this, needed to look Josie in the eyes and find out why the hell she’d been playing private messages for Jade.

She wasn’t even aware of her surroundings; all she knew was that she was leaving the school. Then she was outside, eyes scanning her surroundings. Josie was standing by herself, probably lost in thought. She used to do that all the time. Just stop walking because she was so overcome with thought. It was so adorable.

No. Josie was not adorable, she was someone who had broken Penelope's trust, and Penelope needed to be mad. 

“Josie!” She called out, and Josie turned around, surprise on her face. She sighed as Penelope drew closer.

“Penelope, I don’t have the time right now—”

“No, you do, just listen,” Penelope cut her off. Normally, she’d feel bad about that, but she really needed to get her words out. 

“Look, you hate me. I get that message loud and clear. But I just thought that—” she cut off, feeling like her throat was closing up, and looked away from Josie. No, she was not going to cry in front of Josie. That would be so pathetic. She looked back at Josie and sighed.

“I thought that there was still some trust between us, okay? Obviously, there isn’t, so thanks for making me look like an idiot, but next time, don’t go sharing my private voicemails with your girlfriend.”

Josie frowned at Penelope, but didn’t say anything. Penelope just waited, waited for Josie to tell Penelope that she could do what she wanted, or to tell Penelope that she was overreacting.

But she just stayed silent, looking as if she was trying to put a puzzle together in her own mind. Penelope sighed.

“Fine, don’t say anything then.” She started to walk away, but then Josie reached out and grabbed her sleeve, pulling her back around.

“What?” Penelope asked, rather sharply. 

“What voicemail are you talking about? I haven’t received any voicemails.”

It was Penelope’s turn to frown.

“Well, I sent you one. And it clearly got through, considering that Jade just told me about it.”

Josie shook her head. “When did you send it?” She sounded almost desperate for the answer.

“I sent it the day that you and Hope made up, when we agreed to be civil.”

“I lost my phone that afternoon, and I didn’t get it back until the next afternoon.”

Penelope rose her eyebrows. That was news. 

“Wait, so you didn’t hear my message?”

Josie shook her head again.

“So, how did Jade…” Penelope trailed off, because there was a look of realisation in Josie’s eyes. A few seconds later, Penelope connected the same dots.

If Josie hadn’t had her phone then, and she had never heard the voicemail, but Jade had, then that meant…

“Jade stole your phone?” 

Josie’s eyes, which had started to drift into the distance, snapped back to Penelope.

“She wouldn’t,” she argued, but Penelope could hear that even she didn’t believe herself.

“Maybe she did.” She tilted her head to the side, and remembered her own encounter with Jade. “Oh, by the way, I may have just given her a split lip by accident.”

Josie rose her eyebrow.

“You did what?”

“It was an accident. Kol wanted us to pass a basketball back and forth, and it sort of got out of hand.”

Josie sighed. “Well, considering the fact that you two hate each other, I suppose that’s to be expected.”

Penelope shrugged. “I don’t hate her. Well, at least I didn’t. If she stole your phone, I now officially hate her.”

Josie gave her a pointed look.

“You totally hated her before.”

“No, I just didn’t like it when she glared at me every five seconds. You really couldn’t ask her to just not do that?” 

Josie shrugged, biting her lip and looking down.

“To be fair, I was glaring at you every five seconds as well.” 

Penelope heard the unsaid ‘so, why don’t you hate me’, and she sighed.

“We both know that I could never hate you. No matter how much you despise me.”

Josie’s gaze softened, and Penelope couldn’t take it. This conversation was making her head spin, and considering that she’d nearly had a breakdown in the drama room, she just wanted to get home. She cleared her throat.

“I’m gonna get going. Have a nice weekend Josie.” She turned and walked away. 

“What was the voicemail about?” Josie called after her. Penelope turned back around, and just grinned at Josie.

“Sorry Josie, that’s a secret I’ll never tell.” 

Josie rolled her eyes.

“Idiot.”

“Oh please, you know you love it.”

Josie didn’t say anything in response, she just stared at Penelope with way too much emotion, so Penelope just nodded and left.

+++

The moment that Penelope escaped her dad’s questioning gaze, she pulled out her phone and texted her friends.

**Penelope: losers, i have information to deliver**

It did not take long for them to reply. 

**LanLan: please do**

**kaleb says acab: is this about jade and that whole fuckery**

**Penelope: Kaleb what have I said about spoilers**

**Hoe: well now i’m interested**

**Penelope: right well**

**Penelope: kol had me and jade do this weird drama game**

**Penelope: long story short, i gave jade a split lip.**

**LanLan: oh ethan told me about this**

Penelope chuckled to herself about the idea of Ethan having already told Landon about this. It had barely been an hour. It seemed like Landon was right about Ethan also having feelings.

**Hoe: sorry penelope you did whAT**

**Penelope: let’s please focus on the fact that ethan and landon have already talked about something that happened like an hour ago**

**kaleb says acab: is this landons crush**

**Penelope: yeah**

**Hoe: can we circle back to penelope giving jade a spLIT LIP**

**LanLan: yeah i kinda want some more context**

**LanLan: ethan just said there was yelling and he didn’t understand much of it**

**Penelope: dude i don’t even remember what she said**

**kaleb says acab: oh i do**

**kaleb says acab: “i’m glad that you let josie go because now she can be with someone who is worth it"**

**LanLan: im gonna cut her**

**Hoe: someone get me a shovel because we’re about to have a dead body**

Penelope laughed at her friends’ protectiveness. She knew that if she asked, they probably would fight Jade for her. Not that that would be a great idea, but still, it was entertaining to think about. 

**Penelope: id say calm down, but yeah, jade sucks**

**LanLan: she has no right to be making passive aggressive remarks about that**

**Hoe: this bitch**

**kaleb says acab: she also said that penelope should know that she's nothing to josie and never was**

**Hoe: …**

**LanLan: she fucking did what**

**LanLan: why does she think she has a right to comment on you and josie**

**Hoe: sorry let me just get my axe**

**Penelope: it gets worse actually**

**kaleb says acab: o rlly**

**Penelope: yeah.**

**Penelope: i went to go apologise to her**

**Penelope: and this bitch had the audacity**

**Penelope: to bring josie into it and to tell me that josie wants nothing to do with me**

**Penelope: told me that she understood exactly why josie hates me, and that she hopes i get what’s coming to me**

**Hoe: right that’s it.**

**Hoe: i’m telling my entire family, they will go to war**

Penelope’s mind was filled with the image of the various Mikaelson family members getting ready to go attack a teen girl for being mean to her, and decided that maybe the line needed to be drawn somewhere.

**Penelope: do not do that.**

**Hoe: why not**

**Penelope: specifically, so they don’t go to war**

**LanLan: i honestly don’t know which member i’d be most worried about committing murder in this situation**

**kaleb says acab: rebekah will cut a bitch with no hesitation**

**LanLan: you say that, but Klaus and elijah are scary**

**Penelope: not that i’m encouraging this discussion, but Klaus and Elijah’s favourite is lizzie**

**Penelope: for reasons that we all know, so i don’t think they’d be the ones to worry about**

**LanLan: tru**

**Hoe: first of all, my family, so my word is final**

**Hoe: second, penelope fuck off, you don’t need to remind me that my family is painfully aware of my unrequited feelings.**

Penelope rolled her eyes at the phrase ‘unrequited feelings’. Lizzie may be an idiot, but Penelope knew that she had feelings for Hope. She just needed to realise that, so that at least some of them could be happy. 

**Hoe: third, my mother will break jade’s knees, because she’s basically penelope’s mother as well**

Penelope smiled at the thought of Hayley wanting to protect her. She knew it was true. That woman had done more for her than her actual mother ever had. 

**LanLan: i love your mother, she’s so cool**

**kaleb says acab: Hayley would not hesitate to kill jade**

**Penelope: i agree, which is why we are not telling Hayley about this**

**Hoe: …fine**

**Hoe: is that all of your info**

**Penelope: technically yes**

**LanLan: right, so you have more info, but you technically shouldn’t say because it’s not your business, but you’re gonna tell us anyway?**

**Penelope: it’s about josie.**

**kaleb says acab: if you don’t feel comfortable telling us, you don’t have to**

For a moment, Penelope considered not telling them about Jade taking Josie’s phone, and the voicemail, but she decided against it. She was mad about it too, and she trusted her friends. Besides, Penelope didn’t exactly feel bad about spilling drama about Jade and Josie to her friends. 

**Penelope: no, i feel like you guys should know**

**Penelope: jade stole josie’s phone and deleted a voicemail that i sent to her, after listening to it.**

**Hoe: yep, jade’s dead**

**LanLan: i’ll just call the funeral services now, just to save on time**

**kaleb says acab: this bitch better get ready for these hands, because they’re coming**

**Hoe: does Josie know?????**

**Penelope: yeah**

**Hoe: oh jade is fucked**

**Hoe: now that’s she hurt two of my best friends, i will not hesitate to baseball bat this girl in the head**

**LanLan: that’s so shitty of her**

**Penelope: i know!**

**kaleb says acab: you’re sure that she stole josie’s phone?**

**Penelope: 100%**

**kaleb says acab: i’m so mad right now**

**kaleb says acab: are you gonna tell kol**

**Penelope: it’s josie’s decision**

**Penelope: i’m just telling you guys because i’m mad about it and i need to vent**

**Hoe: josie just texted me and lizzie about it and o boy she is pissed**

**Hoe: i haven’t seen her this mad since the time she yelled at me**

Penelope smiled. At least Josie was allowing herself to be mad about this, rather than just bottling up her emotions. She still didn’t really know what Josie had meant about possibly stealing people’s stuff, but she knew that actually voicing her emotions was way healthier than that. 

**LanLan: #jadeisoverparty**

**Penelope: i rlly thought that jade could make josie happy**

**kaleb says acab: no one can make her happy but you penelope, let’s not lie to ourselves**

**Hoe: he’s right you know**

**Penelope: maybe**

**LanLan: do you think they’ll break up**

**Penelope: idk**

**Penelope: even if they do, i’m not making a move, before any of you idiots get ideas**

**Penelope: josie and i need space, and im not really any better and tbh neither is she**

**Hoe: how are you being so mature about this, and yet such an idiot**

**Penelope: it’s part of my charm**

Penelope had considered the option of maybe making a move, just for a second, but she knew that she couldn’t. Her and Josie were still so similar to the people they were at the beginning of the summer. They needed to change. 

Penelope needed to learn how to communicate her issues properly, and Josie needed to learn how to stop putting herself second for everything. They both had a long way to go, but Penelope had hope that maybe, just maybe, they could make it.

Not much hope, mind you, but there was still some. 

It was with that hope in mind, with the thought that a future her got to be Josie’s once more, Penelope fell asleep early for the first time in what felt like ages.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most of you guessed that it was Jade who did the stealing, so hats off to all of you! And to my Jasie haters, I think you're really gonna like next chapter!  
> Thanks for all the lovely comments on the last chapter, you guys are the best!   
> The next couple of chapters are gonna be from Josie's POV, and I can tell you this next bit will be fairly eventful. Another little spoiler I can give you guys is that Penelope's mother is coming back to town...  
> Until next time, I hope y'all are thriving and living your best lives in this very dry Legacies hiatus!


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm not gonna say much here, but it is Josie's POV and this is the beginning of some major developments in Posie's story!  
> Enjoy!

Josie’s conversation with Penelope threw light on the whole situation, and suddenly Josie was left with a number of truths that she had no idea what to do with.

Jade had stolen her phone. Not only that, but Jade had listened to a voicemail that was intended for Josie, and then deleted it. If that wasn’t enough, she’d not only hidden this from Josie, but had the audacity to get mad at Josie for stealing from Maya.

At least Josie had owned up to that. At least Josie had the courage to not be an asshole.

It was like Josie didn’t even know who Jade was. This person, who had invaded Josie’s privacy so blatantly, was one that Josie didn’t even know. 

Lizzie picked up on her bad mood the moment that she got into the car.

“Spill. I saw you were talking to Satan. What did she say to you?”

Josie shook her head. “This isn’t Penelope’s fault. It’s Jade’s.”

Lizzie’s eyes widened. “Jade? Jade did something?”

Josie nodded. “You know how my phone went missing? Jade stole it.”

Lizzie gasped. “She did what? Are you sure? It could just be Satan trying to break you guys up.”

Josie shook her head. The thought hadn’t crossed her mind yet, but just thinking about it now, she knew it wasn’t true. The anger and pain in Penelope’s eyes weren’t faked. 

“No, Penelope didn’t realise that Jade had stolen my phone until she talked with me. She didn’t even know that it was missing. She was mad because Jade listened to a voicemail that she’d left on my phone, and she thought that I’d shared it with Jade. But actually, Jade stole my phone, listened to, and deleted the voicemail.”

“Why the hell was Penelope leaving a voicemail?”

Josie stared at Lizzie.

“Liz, not the main takeaway from this story.”

Lizzie nodded.

“Right. Well, Jade’s dead. I’m calling Hope the moment that we get home, and she can hit up the Mikaelsons. Freya loves you; she’ll be willing to kill for you in a heartbeat. I can surely get Klaus and Elijah, and then bam, Jade’s a dead woman.” She gasped. “That’s not even to mention our mums. Oh, they’ll skin her alive.”

Josie rested a placating hand on Lizzie’s arm.

“Okay, reel it back just a little. This is my fight; we don’t need to get the adults involved.”

Lizzie looked at her for a moment, seemingly not wanting to back down. Josie knew that Lizzie wanted to protect her, but sometimes not everything could be solved by Lizzie fighting battles for her.

“I’m still telling Hope,” Lizzie finally conceded. 

Josie nodded.

“You can do that. Text it to our group chat, that way I can convince her not to send her entire family on Jade. While it is nice knowing that there’s an extremely powerful family that would kill for me, we don’t need to go to that extreme.”

Lizzie shrugged. “Fair enough. Just know, that once you’re their favourite, they’ll do anything for you.”

Josie laughed.

“Like you getting Klaus to intimidate Landon because he asked Hope out and you were mad?”

Lizzie blushed.

“We don’t talk about that,” she said, her voice more closed off than it had been a moment ago, so Josie decided that maybe leaving it would be a good idea.

+++

Josie spent the weekend ignoring Jade’s texts and ranting to Lizzie and Hope. They were both obviously mad about it, and Josie got the vibe that they both wanted Josie to dump Jade.

And to be honest, Josie was pretty sure that was what she was going to do. Her and Jade had lost the spark they’d had over the summer, and now, with this blatant act of disregard for Josie’s privacy, Josie didn’t know how she could stay in the relationship. 

Her mothers had noticed that something was clearly up with her, but hadn’t brought it up, past a few worried glances. Josie was mostly keeping her mouth shut because her mums had met Jade, and thus, had formed an opinion on her. If she told them that she wanted to break up with Jade, she’d either be met with ‘but she’s such a lovely girl’ or ‘we never really liked her as much as Penelope anyways’. 

She really did know which one she would hate more. 

When Lizzie wasn’t going on about how Jade was the worst human ever, which was funny to Josie, considering that Penelope had held that title merely days ago, she was talking about the Mikaelson charity gala. It was a thing that was held every year, and every year, Hope took Lizzie as her plus one. 

Josie would be offended about that, except big fancy parties and expensive clothes had never been her thing. She’d much rather a quiet evening spent with friends. Lizzie on the other hand, lived for that type of thing. Every year, Rebekah would get Lizzie a dress specifically for the gala, and every year, Lizzie would lose her shit.

So would Hope, to be fair. Every year, when she collected Lizzie for the gala, Josie would see her fall just a little bit harder.

Josie’s mums would also get an invite, more specifically Caroline, but they’d both dress up and go. Josie would just stay at home and read her books. She would feel alone, but Penelope always came over on the gala night and kept her company.

Although, she supposed that wouldn’t be happening this year. 

The gala would be held that Monday night. Monday was an unusual time for an event, but to be fair, the Mikaelsons were an unusual family. 

When Monday rolled around, Josie didn’t know if she had the strength to face it. Not only would she be breaking up with her girlfriend, but she’d also ignoring Penelope because things were currently just a little weird between them, which to be fair was better than outright hostile, but still.

In the end, Lizzie practically dragged her out of bed. She marched straight into Josie’s room, and started shouting motivational things, such as ‘you gotta carpe the shit out of this diem Josie’ and ‘it’s time to get rid of that blonde bitch’. This did get Josie out of bed, but less because she was motivated, and more because she wanted Lizzie to shut up.

They arrived at school at the same time as Hope and Kol, and Josie’s earlier suspicions about the red Lamborghini being Kol’s were confirmed. Kol flashed the twins a quick smile, patted Hope on the shoulder and strode off in the direction of the school.

Lizzie chuckled. “What’s got your uncle in such a rush?”

Hope rolled her eyes. “He’s on his way to invite Ms Claire to the gala.”

Both Lizzie and Josie gasped at that. Kol and Ms Claire? Now that was interesting. Josie had seen them talking around the school, Kol giving her a charming smile, and her looking like she was trying her hardest not to smile at whatever he was saying. 

“They’d be a cute couple. She’d better say yes. Even if it will be awkward seeing a teacher at the gala,” Lizzie remarked. Hope just shrugged.

“Don’t worry. I’ll stay by your side at all times, just like always.”

Lizzie gave Hope a dazzling smile, and Josie felt that feeling of being a third wheel rise up again. She waited for them to keep talking, but they just started staring at each other. After a few moments of that, Josie cleared her throat.

“Shall we get going?” She asked them, trying to keep both the laugh and the annoyance out of her voice. The two others girls looked away, trying to act like they hadn’t been seconds away from making out in the middle of the car park, and made little affirmative noises.

The boys greeted them at their lockers, with twin expressions of curiosity. Josie hadn’t filled them in on the situation, but MG was friends with Kaleb, who had probably heard about Jade and Penelope’s argument, and Rafael had probably heard something from Landon, who would have heard it from Penelope.

Josie sighed.

“What do you want to know?”

They looked at each other and then back at Josie. 

MG spoke first.

“What’s going on with you and Jade? Because Kaleb says that she fought with Penelope, and apparently Landon said that she was kind of being shitty, and we want to know your side of it.”

Lizzie opened her mouth to respond, but Josie rested a hand on her shoulder, signalling her that she wanted to speak. 

“The short version is that she stole my phone, listened to some of my private voicemails, and who knows what else. Please don’t go around talking to people about it, and no, I haven’t talked to her yet, and I’m probably going to ignore her for as long as possible.”

The boys nodded.

“Whatever you need, we got,” Rafael told her. Josie gave him a thankful smile.

“Right, now I’d like to not talk about that for the rest of the day. So, did everyone finish their English essays?”

+++

Josie was able to ignore Jade for the whole day. It was actually pretty good, considering that she knew that Jade was in fact looking for her. She’d had to dart into the music room during lunch, which led to her not eating, which led to her being in an even worse mood than before.

So, when Josie was walking alone through the corridors to get to rehearsal, and heard Jade’s voice calling out to her, she wasn’t exactly excited about the conversation.

“Josie!” 

Josie turned around, waiting as Jade bounded up to her. The blonde girl gave her a nervous smile, which Josie pointedly did not return. Upon realising that Josie was not in a good mood, Jade took a step back, and shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket.

“What’s up with you? We were supposed to hang out on the weekend, why did you ignore all of my texts? I know we had a fight in the afternoon, but I really thought a simple talk could fix that.”

Josie sighed. “I was busy.” Idiot. Stop deflecting. You need to actually talk to her.

“If you were doing homework, you know I would have been okay with not hanging out. I just thought I should get a text, you know, because I’m your girlfriend,” Jade tried for a smile, but Josie stayed cold. So, she stepped towards Josie, reaching out to touch her cheek. Josie moved away, and Jade’s smile fell.

“Jos, what’s wrong?”

Josie looked down, biting her lip and trying her best to gather up her words. 

“Jos, talk to me.”

Josie looked up.

“I have some questions, and I really need you to answer them honestly.”

Jade frowned, but nodded.

“Did you, or did you not, get Maya to steal my phone for you?”

Jade’s eyes widened, and Josie got just a little bit of satisfaction from the panic clear on her face.

“Josie…” she started, but Josie cut her off.

“It’s a simple question, I just need you to answer me.”

Jade sighed, looked down, and Josie waited. When she finally looked up, Josie noted that there was at least some guilt in her eyes.

“I did.”

The words sat between them, and Josie felt just a little bit disappointed. Maybe some part of her had wanted this whole thing to be some sort of manipulation from Maya or something, maybe she’d wanted to believe that Jade, good honest Jade, would never do something like this.

But now the truth was there, staring her plain in the face, and they both had to deal with the consequences.

“And did you tell me about it?” Josie asked, mostly because she wanted to drive home the betrayal that she’d been feeling the past few days.

Jade shook her head, seemingly unable to speak.

“And was it not you who had the audacity to get mad at me for stealing from Maya, when you knew what you had done?”

Jade didn’t answer, so Josie just laughed bitterly.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

Jade shook her head and stepped closer to Josie.

“Can I at least defend myself?” she pleaded. 

“Sure. Go ahead and tell me why blatantly invading my privacy was okay?”

Jade sighed. “Look, over the summer, everything was fine, but recently you’ve been drifting. Then you lied to me about Penelope texting you, and you keep lying to me about her. What was I supposed to do?”

Josie wasn’t sure how that classified as a substantial argument. She basically just blamed everything on Penelope. 

“Don’t bring Penelope into this.”

“She’s already involved! Josie, she’s pulling us apart, can’t you see it? Ever since we got back, it’s been nothing but her, but as far as I can tell, she's a bitch and I’ve done way more for you than she ever has.”

Josie frowned. “What are you even talking about?”

Jade looked away, and then chuckled wryly.

“Did you really think that Emily just happened to get food poisoning, that you getting the chance to be the lead that night was just an accident?”

Josie wasn’t sure if she’d heard Jade properly, and then it suddenly sunk in. 

Jade had been behind Emily getting food poisoning during drama camp.

Holy shit, who was this person?

“You poisoned Emily?” Josie almost screeched, and Jade made a motion for her to keep her voice down.

“Relax, it’s not like that. I just slipped her a bad devilled egg. I didn’t know if it would work, but it did, and look how it turned out. You got to shine. Josie, that was me, and I did it because I love you.”

Upon hearing those words again, Josie looked away. She heard Jade scoff.

“Right. Because when I say them, you can’t say it back, but you could say it to Penelope, right?”

Josie snapped her head back to look at Jade. Jade knew about that, which meant that she'd seen the video that Josie had archived on her Instagram. 

“Oh, so you went through my Instagram too? Real classy.”

Jade actually rolled her eyes.

“You’re being dramatic.”

“No, I’m having the exact reaction that a girl who found out that her own girlfriend not only grossly invaded her privacy, but also poisoned someone, should be having. I'm sorry that I made you feel jealous, but you should have talked to me instead of going behind my back.” Josie turned to leave, but Jade grabbed onto her sleeve.

“Josie, I’m sorry, okay? I was just trying to hold onto what we had over the summer.”

Josie turned to look her dead in the eyes. 

“So was I, but you know what? The summer is over. And so are we.” And with that, Josie turned and marched away from her now ex-girlfriend.

It hurt, but a little voice in her head told her that it didn’t hurt as much as when Penelope walked away from her.

At least this time she got to be the one to walk away first. 

+++

The first thing that she noticed when she walked into rehearsal was that Penelope wasn’t there. She admonished herself mentally for that thought, but it had still been the first thing she’d thought of.

Penelope Park was still in every single thing that Josie did. Maybe Jade did have a point. Even if she had gone about it in literally the shittiest way possible. 

She shook the thought off and walked over to where Hope was sitting with Lizzie and MG. 

“Josie, are you okay, you look rattled,” Hope asked. Josie gave her what she hoped was a reassuring smile, but definitely didn’t reach her eyes.

“Jade and I just talked. It’s over.” She sat down on the floor next to them. MG rested a hand on her shoulder.

“We’re here for you Josie. If you want me to accidentally tackle her to the ground or something, I will,” he told her. Josie laughed.

“No tackling is needed. What she did was shitty, but I don’t feel the need to relentlessly punish her for it. My plan is to just ignore her at every chance I get.” 

Lizzie opened her mouth to speak, but Kol walked in, looking rather rattled.

“Sorry everyone, this will have to be a quick rehearsal. My darling family has a big dinner on tonight, and I really need to get ready. Apparently, there’s a hundred things that must be done before I get there,” he trailed off towards the end, probably just talking to himself. 

He sighed. “Right, I want to run through _What I’ve Been Looking For_. Josie, Penelope, Wendy, up on the stage for me please.” 

Josie and Wendy stepped onto the stage, but Penelope was still nowhere to be seen. Kol frowned.

“Has anyone seen Penelope today?”

Hope spoke up, “She said she was going to be a little late, she needed to get her script.” 

Kol sighed. “Right, well, I guess Rafael can take her place.”

Josie looked around but saw that Rafael wasn’t there. Landon rose his hand timidly.

“Rafael had to miss today’s rehearsal; he has a job interview.”

Kol stared at Landon for a moment, as if he was expecting Landon to shout ‘sike!’ or something. When he realised that he was serious, he just rubbed his temples.

“Okay, guys listen up! In the future, if you know you won’t be able to make a rehearsal, please, just let me know.”

The room murmured something that sounded like an agreement. It was at this moment that Jade finally entered, looking a little like someone had kicked her puppy. Josie felt absolutely no sympathy, because well, Jade had sort of dug her own grave here.

Kol waved a hand at Jade.

“Okay, Jade, this is a little unprecedented, but I want Josie to run through _What I’ve Been Looking For_. Do you think that you know the words well enough to step in as Troy?”

Josie glared at Jade, trying to tell her that she should tell Kol that, no, she didn’t know the words, and they should just wait for Penelope. 

“Yeah, I think I know the words well enough,” Jade said, deliberately not making eye contact with Josie. 

Yeah, Josie was feeling really good about the breakup right now. She huffed and watched as Jade hopped onto the stage. Jade moved over to where she was, and Josie tried her best to put as much space between them as possible. 

Kol frowned, seeming to sense the awkward tension, but did not comment.

“Right, now please go from ‘Wow, that’s really nice’. And then both of you make your way down to the piano, and Josie, gently rest your arm on it in a way that feels natural. Take it away girls.”

Jade cleared her throat and spoke.

“Wow, now that’s really nice.”

Josie just nodded, and walked over to the piano. Wendy had a grimace on her face, and Josie figured that as Jade’s best friend, she probably had an idea about what was going on. She started playing and Josie forced herself to look up at Jade as she began singing.

“It’s hard to believe, that I couldn’t see…” Jade’s voice was objectively nice, but Josie didn’t care about that right now. All she could think about was how mad she was.

Josie started singing along, knowing that her anger was definitely showing in her voice. The lyrics were ironic, it was a song about finding someone who saw and heard you no matter what, someone who made you better. Josie knew now, that was not Jade.

As they sang, Josie almost felt like she was mocking the lyrics, her voice getting angrier, and Jade’s voice fading away as she stared at the ground. When they finished Josie turned to Kol with a bright smile, like she hadn’t completely butchered that performance.

He blinked. “Josie, um, I just wanted to remind you that this is a love song.”

Josie tried her best to keep her emotions in check.

“Did you not get that?”

He sighed, rubbing at his face.

“Josie, I’d like you to get to her heart without breaking her ribcage first.”

Well, to Josie, breaking Jade’s ribcage actually sounded pretty nice. 

Kol shook his head, running his hand through his hair.

“You know, I don’t think this rehearsal is going to go well.”

It was at this moment that Penelope barged through the door, swinging her bag off of her shoulder, and dropping it to the ground without a second thought, words then proceeding to bubble out of her mouth.

“I’m so sorry, I had to go home, and my mum apparently decided to catch an early flight, and it won’t happen again, I’m so sorry.”

Kol sighed. “Hope told me you were getting your script.”

Penelope nodded. Josie finally took in her appearance. Her hair was messed up, her hands wouldn’t stop moving, and her eyes had just the slightest tinge of red. Someone who knew Penelope less would think that maybe she was high. Josie knew that she was upset. 

“Where is it?”

“What?”

“Your script, Penelope, where is your script?” Kol was starting to get annoyed, and to be fair, Josie couldn’t exactly blame him. The rehearsal had been a little bit of a train wreck.  
Penelope blinked and looked down. Her eyes closed for a moment, and Josie could practically hear Penelope swearing at herself.

“I don’t have it.”

Kol groaned.

“It’s a blocking rehearsal Penelope, you need your script.”

“I can borrow one.”

“You need to write notes on it for yourself, borrowing it would be a waste of time.” He shook his head. “This rehearsal is a waste of time, everyone head home. Penelope, please wait for me in my office, I need to speak with you.” 

Penelope swallowed, then grabbed her bag and all but sprinted out of that room. She had barely spared a glance for anyone in the room. Something was really wrong.

Then Josie remembered what Penelope had said. Her mother had caught an early flight in. Josie could practically feel the pieces connecting in her mind. 

Josie had met Penelope’s mother multiple times over the course of her life. Of course, she had, they’d been friends since they were kids, and even now Josie probably still knew Penelope’s house like the back of her hand. 

The thing was, while Penelope’s dad had been nice, and had always given the girls a smile, or offered for Josie to stay for dinner, had always been the one to roll his eyes playfully when they were being idiots, Penelope’s mother had always been cold and distant.

From what Josie could tell, Penelope’s mother couldn’t care less about her child or her husband. Growing up, she’d watched Penelope be disappointed by her over and over again, and yet Penelope kept hoping. Penelope had cried into Josie’s arms so many times over it, had whispered into the dark that she just wanted to be good enough for her mother.

Josie had told her that she didn’t need to worry about that, that she didn’t need to be better, didn’t need to change herself, because Penelope was already amazing. Penelope had just laughed, but there was no real joy in it. 

So, if Penelope’s mother had come back, from who knows where, Josie hadn’t been aware that she was gone, but it wasn’t all that surprising, then that gave a reason for Penelope to be rattled. 

Josie looked up to meet Hope’s eyes. Hope asked her a silent question. 

_Do you want me to go after her, or do you want to?_

Josie was surprised that Hope was even asking, that Hope wasn’t just leaving the room. After all, wasn’t Hope supposed to be the one making sure that Penelope didn’t get put in a worse mood when they inevitably fought?

Josie could have just let Hope go after her, but something in her made her shake her head. Hope leaned back into Lizzie, and Josie walked out of the room. Jade moved to approach her, probably to argue her side once more, but Josie didn’t let her. 

She knew that Penelope wouldn’t have gone to Kol’s office right away. No way. So, she pushed open the door to the first bathroom she came across. To no surprise, she found Penelope gripping the sink, eyes fixed on the floor. 

She didn’t even react when Josie locked the door behind her, making sure that no one intruded. Josie took a hesitant step forwards and quietly said, “Hey.”

Penelope’s head shot up and she actually flinched back, eyes wide. Josie wasn’t surprised, Penelope often got jumpy when she was lost in her thoughts. She just hated how worn-down Penelope looked right now.

“Pen? What’s going on?”

Penelope shook her head.

“Don’t worry about it.” She tried to walk past Josie, but Josie reached out and gently wrapped her hand around Penelope’s wrist. Penelope looked back, surprised that Josie had wanted her to stay.

“You know I’m not just asking because I’m trying to be nice. I’m asking because I’m worried about you.”

Penelope sighed. She pulled her hand away from Josie’s and leaned against the closed door.

“I’m sorry. It’s my mum. She’s back, and even more of a jerk than before. And she sort of gave me some unexpected news. Let’s just say that I’m not really at my best right now.”

Josie sighed. “I hate that she can make you feel like that.”

Penelope shrugged.

“It’s always been this way. I should really stop getting my hopes up.” She sighed, and then gave Josie a tired smile.

“Thanks for checking in with me. You don’t have to.”

Josie shrugged. “Believe it or not, I still care about you. And I know what your mum is like. I was serious when I said that you could talk to me.”

Penelope nodded, and looked right at Josie as if she was trying to put together pieces in a puzzle.

“And can you talk to me?”

Josie paused before answering, recognising something hidden in Penelope’s tone. How could she tell her that the only thing that she’d want to talk to Penelope about, was Penelope?

She settled on saying, “If you still want that, then yes. I’d talk to you.”

Penelope nodded, but her eyes moved away from Josie’s, so Josie couldn’t tell if she truly accepted the answer.

“Right, well, I’d better get going. Don’t want Kol getting madder at me.” Penelope gave Josie a forced smile, and unlocked the door, before slipping out. 

Josie sighed, feeling like once more, they’d gotten so close to making some real progress, but there was still something missing, something that they weren’t admitting. She didn’t know if it was Penelope being closed off, or the fact that Josie didn’t know how to be around Penelope, but she knew it was different.

She sighed, and exited the bathroom. There were too many thoughts in her head right now. She needed to hang out with Lizzie. Maybe her sister could offer some wisdom before she danced off into the night with Hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jasie are officially broken up! Does this mean Posie is going to get back together? No of course not, who do you think I am, I love slowburns!  
> Next chapter will be again from Josie's POV, and I can tell you that Lizzie and Josie are going to have a good conversation. We're getting really close to some good Posie content, I promise you guys!  
> Until next time, live your best lives my readers!


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at that, I am speed! And it's a longer chapter too! There's only a little bit of Posie at the end, but the majority is Josie and Lizzie being Good SiblingsTM and that is always needed!  
> Enjoy!

The café was crowded, but it wasn’t like Josie hadn’t been expecting that. It was directly after school, and it was one of the closest cafés to the school, so of course all the students flooded to it.

The thing that bothered her was the couple on the couch. They seemed to be a pair of Ninth Graders, and they wouldn’t stop with the PDA. Seriously, did he really need to wrap his arm around his girlfriend like that all the time? Or make out every five seconds?

Josie didn’t think so. Even if her and Jade had literally been doing the exact same thing on their last date.

“Josie, can you please stop staring at the children, they’re going to call the police, and you’re going to be arrested,” Lizzie told her.

“The police are an inherently corrupt system. If they call the police, we’re setting their car on fire.”

Lizzie reached over and flicked Josie in the arm. Josie finally snapped her eyes away from the couple, who were basically dry humping each other at this point.

“As true as that statement is, you missed the point. We’re here to hang out, and bitch about our problems. Not to stare at horny fifteen-year olds. Also, dial down the pyromania a little.”

Josie sighed. Her sister did have a point.

“So, what do you want to bitch about?”

Lizzie shook her head, “No.”

Josie frowned, “No?” Her sister loved bitching about things, why would she pass up the opportunity?

“Josie, you just broke up with your girlfriend. As your twin sister, I demand for you to go on a full rant, so that I can fully hate her.”

Josie’s mind was thrown back to when Penelope broke up with her. There had been less of a rant, and more of days spent sobbing in her room, and when she finally talked to Lizzie, she made it through about one and a half sentences before breaking down in her arms.

Hopefully this conversation went better.

“Well, as much as I was mad at her, she seemed convinced that she was in the right. She said that I’ve been drifting away from her and that all I do is pay attention to Penelope. It was like she was trying to justify all the things she did because I’d been a little absent.”

Lizzie sighed, but Josie noticed that she didn’t seem as mad about it as anticipated.

“What,” Josie asked with a frown.

Lizzie sighed again.

“To be fair, you did admit to us that you’re still in love with Penelope, and that you’re practically forcing your relationship with Jade.”

Josie spluttered, looking for an answer that wasn’t just agreement with her sister’s statement.

“Weren’t you trying to get us to stay together and encouraging me to try harder with her literally two days ago?”

Lizzie shrugged.

“Because I thought you could be happy with her. Now I see that’s not going to happen, so my true feelings on the subject are now allowed to be spoken.”

Josie rolled her eyes. That was such a Lizzie thing to say.

“But enough about her and what you did wrong. I don’t care about that. I want to hear about how she’s the worst.”

Well, at least that was a supportive statement.

Josie thought about their argument, and remembered the revelation of what Jade had done at the camp.

“Oh, I just remembered. So, not only did she steal my phone, but you know how Emily got food poisoning and I took her role?”

Lizzie nodded.

“Jade poisoned her, on purpose! And then she had the audacity to claim that she did it for me. I don’t care if it’s supportive or whatever, I don’t want people to get hurt because of me.”

Lizzie’s eyes widened.

“I didn’t think that she knew how to do things like that. She was always the golden child of the school.”

Josie shrugged, “I guess even golden girls have a dark side.” Her gaze drifted back to the teens on the couch. They had disentangled from each other’s faces, and were now just staring at each with love and happiness.

It was so rude. Josie felt like she’d been hit by a bus and everyone was just going about their days like love was still real.

“Josie, seriously, major stalker vibes right now.”

Josie pulled her gaze back to Lizzie.

“Why do I have such bad taste in people? Am I just doomed to always pick jerks who don’t communicate properly?” 

Lizzie sighed.

“Josie, no, it’s not your fault. Jade was nice, and she did care about you, even if she did turn out to be really jealous and good at crossing boundaries.”

Josie didn’t want to say it, but it was like her mouth betrayed her.

“And Penelope?”

Lizzie pursed her lips, probably holding back a scathing condemnation of Penelope.

“I think she cared, but she wasn’t ready to love you.”

Josie stared at Lizzie, feeling like someone was about to jump out and tell her that she was being filmed and that Lizzie had been replaced by a paid actor with some really good makeup.

But the café just kept going around like normal, and Josie had to realise that Lizzie had actually said that.

“I’m sorry, aren’t you the captain of the ‘I hate Penelope more than I’ve ever hated anyone’ ship?”

Lizzie scoffed, “Please, as much as I dislike her, I dislike Alyssa more, don’t spread misinformation Jo.”

Josie just stared at her. Lizzie finally sighed.

“Look. Do I think Penelope should be slapped really really hard for breaking your heart and that she’s the devil incarnate? Yes. But I’ve been thinking recently, and talking with Hope, and I don’t know, I guess I’ve been able to see it through a more objective lense.”

Josie frowned.

“So…you think that she wasn’t ready to love me?”

“I think that we both know that Penelope is the master of pretending that she’s got everything under control, when in reality, she’s got a list of issues longer than my metaphorical di—”

“Yep, I get the point, you don’t need to finish that sentence.”

“The point is, Josette Junior, that you’re still in love with her, and she’s still obsessed with you, even though she likes to pretend that she isn’t.”

Josie thought back to all their conversations. Penelope had been constantly hiding behind a wall for most of them, and whenever the true her came out, she just backed into her shell within seconds. It was so hard to believe that this version of Penelope was the one who she’d known all her life.

Maybe that was why Josie found it hard to feel the affection that had once been so ever present.

“If you two ever want to get past this weird fucked up mess that you’ve gotten into, you need to talk. Yell, scream, whatever, except, please don’t have breakup sex or something, because that is unhealthy on so many levels.”

“Lizzie.”

“Right, yes. Just communicate with her. Then, maybe, you can actually be happy, instead of being happy-ish, which is what you were when you were with Jade. You can’t try to move on without getting closure.”

She was right, which was weird, because Josie had many recollections of Lizzie giving horrible love advice. What was up with this?

“Lizzie, are you okay? You’ve been giving actually good advice recently.”

Lizzie sighed, looking a little bit guilty, “I’m just trying to be a better sister.”

Josie reached out and took her hands.

“You’re already a good sister.”

Lizzie shook her head.

“Josie, I actively hated your girlfriend, whilst you were in a relationship, and when you broke up, I literally found a way to make it about me and I didn’t even take into account your complex feelings about her before I just hated on her consistently.”

Josie didn’t want to tell Lizzie she was right, but she kind of was. And it had been annoying, and it had made Josie sort of feel bad about herself. 

“Thank you for saying that.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“It isn’t, which is why I’m going to be better.”

Josie smiled at Lizzie, proud of her. She knew that Lizzie just wanted to help people, and to support them, and the fact that she was going to acknowledge her actions and move to be better was really nice.

“Why the change of heart though? Surely a few conversations with Hope didn’t change everything.”

Lizzie blushed. Josie held back a comment about how even a mention of Hope made her get a dreamy look in her eyes.

“You’re right. I actually talked to Mama about it. Penelope said something to me on the day when you guys started talking again, and I just couldn’t stop thinking about it. I may have also texted that she devil over the weekend.”

Josie gasped, “You texted Penelope?”

Lizzie nodded, “It was a short conversation, but I just wanted to talk to her, see how she honestly felt about me. She was a little harsh, but she was honest, and she was right. So, I’m trying to be better.”

Josie nodded, mind still reeling from the realisation that Lizzie and Penelope had actually talked. She wondered what Penelope had said. 

“Anyways, that doesn’t matter. You’re what matters.”

Josie smiled.

“Thanks, but I think I’m mostly ranted out.” A thought occurred to her. “Actually, no, I have more. I’m worried about Penelope.”

Lizzie frowned and nodded, which surprised Josie a little, considering that apart from a few conversations, her ex and her twin didn’t have much friendship between them these days.

“Something was definitely wrong with her today.”

Josie nodded, “I talked to her, and she said that her mother was back and she’d sort of dropped a bomb on her. You know what her mother was like.”

Lizzie nodded, shivering.

“She was one frigid bitch. I can see where Penelope got it from.”

Josie kicked Lizzie under the table, multiple conversations with Penelope spinning through her head. If there was one thing that Penelope didn’t want, it was to be like her mother.

“Fine, I’ll be nice,” Lizzie relented, the worry finding its way back into her eyes. “Follow my advice. Text her tonight, when Hope and I are at the thing. Hope’s sort of her main friend, so if she’s preoccupied, Penelope might need someone else to turn to. And you were her best friend.”

Lizzie did have a point, even if the idea of reaching out to Penelope was terrifying. What if it completely backfired? Penelope was known for shutting people out by using harsh words. Josie had never really been on the other side of it before; Penelope had always said that she never wanted to hurt Josie, no matter what, but clearly that hadn’t been true.

Although, Josie didn’t think there was anything that Penelope could say to her that hurt her more than the breakup.

“We’ll see. I might check in, just to see how she’s doing.”

Lizzie nodded.

“Right. Is there anything else you want to talk about?”

Josie tried to think if there was anything else she wanted to rant about. It wasn’t often that Lizzie was ready to be an active listener, so she should use this to the best of her abilities. Then Lizzie’s phone buzzed. Lizzie looked down at it, and rolled her eyes when she saw the message.

“Ugh, this bitch.”

Josie frowned, “Is it Jade? Or Penelope?”

Lizzie shook her head.

“Worse. It’s Alyssa. Honestly, I should have known that working costumes with her would turn into a train wreck.”

Josie leaned forwards, ready to listen to her sister’s problem.

“Well, it’s officially your turn to rant, so feel free to go ahead.”

Lizzie sat up straight, a look of determined fury in her eyes. This would be a good one.

“This bitch thinks that because she’s the official costume designer, that she can do whatever she wants. I found the most amazing outfits, ones that would be perfect for you and Penelope. Seriously, I picked them with you two in mind. And now she’s just vetoing all my ideas.” Lizzie snorted. 

Josie frowned, “Have you talked to Kol about this?”

Lizzie shook her head.

“Of course not. This is my battle, and I will fight it. I don’t need Kol to step in. I am a strong independent woman, and I can handle Alyssa and her sweatpants.”

Josie titled her head to the side, trying to imagine anyone in the show wearing sweatpants. Penelope would be able to pull it off, but she’d always been able to pull everything off.

“Sweatpants? I don’t really think that’s the vibe we’re going for,” Josie told her. Lizzie nodded emphatically.

“Exactly, that’s what I said. But she was all ‘sorry Lizzie, but I’m the costume designer, you should stick to makeup’. I spend every day trying to best to not slam her headfirst into a clothing rack.”

Josie thought of the harsh words Alyssa had for her earlier that week, ones that she hadn’t even been brave enough to say to Josie’s face, and thought that maybe Alyssa getting slammed into a clothing rack wouldn’t be the worst.

She shook herself out of that mildly violent thought tangent, and tried to summon her best words of encouragement.

“Just stand your ground. Don’t let her walk over you, just let her know that you have good ideas, and don’t let her silence you.”

Lizzie smiled at Josie.

“Oh, don’t worry, I will. If that bitch thinks that she can silence The Lizzie Forbes-Laughlin, she’s got another thing coming.”

“That’s the spirit,” Josie told her with a grin. Lizzie nodded, and looked down at her phone.

She gasped, “I only have two hours until the gala, Josie, we need to get home!” With that, she started gathering all of her objects together. Josie was just glad that they’d already paid for their hot chocolate and muffins.

As they rushed out of the café, Josie threw one last glance at the teens on the couch, and saw them taking a selfie. She remembered Penelope and her doing that in this very café, remembered Penelope kissing her cheek gently, and smiling at Josie like she was the moon on a clear night. 

And as much as she wanted to be mad at them for having something that she’d lost, she decided that they could have their happiness. Not everything had to be a tragedy.

+++

Josie and Lizzie sat in Lizzie’s room, waiting for Hope to pull up outside. 

“So, you’re going to be okay for the night?” Lizzie asked. Josie rolled her eyes.

“I’m seventeen Lizzie, I can handle being alone.” 

As always, Josie would be the sole occupant of the house, because Hope would take Lizzie, and her mums would leave not long after. Once she had turned 13, they had learnt how to trust her alone in the house, even though Penelope always came over. Last year, the two of them had gotten a glare, and a ‘make sure that you two behave’, which they had responded to with an affirmative.

It was safe to say that they had not listened, and that night Josie had ended up having sex with Penelope for the first time. Suffice to say, it had been one of the best nights of her life. Even Lizzie had been willing to listen to her talking about it, although not for long. 

So, Josie had ranted to Hope instead, who did listen, even if she did tease Josie relentlessly.

Penelope had been coming over on the night of the gala since Hope had first asked Lizzie, almost falling over her words. Penelope had insisted that Josie not be left alone, and they’d watched Harry Potter until they both fell asleep on the couch.

They were in a rough place now, so Josie would be spending her first gala night completely alone. She wasn’t quite sure how to feel about that.

“Josie, you know it’s okay if you’re sad about Jade, right?” Lizzie asked out of the blue, Josie turned to look at her with a frown.

“What? Why would I be sad, she invaded my privacy!”

Lizzie sighed, “You may not have loved her, but you did care. So, if you’re sad about it, that would be okay.”

Josie, to be perfectly honest, hadn’t really considered that she might be sad. But now that Lizzie said it, it did make some sort of sense. 

She’d thought that Jade would help her heart heal, that she would love her and trust her, and that she would stick around. As much as Josie wanted to hit her for betraying her like this, she had to recognise that it wouldn’t have been a betrayal if Josie had seen it coming. So, yeah, maybe she was a little sad.

She just wanted to have love that lasted, was that really too much to ask?

“Yeah, okay, thanks Liz. I’ll be alright though,” Josie assured her sister. Lizzie finally smiled, seemingly content with Josie’s answer.

A knock sounded at the door, and Lizzie actually jumped, her eyes lighting up and a smile breaking onto her face.

“Hope’s here!” She stood, and brushed imaginary dust off of her dress. Josie followed her out of the room with a smile. 

Hope was standing at the bottom of the stairs, talking to Josie and Lizzie’s mothers with a smile on her face. She was wearing a suit, which Josie had to say, she looked very hot in. Hey, she hadn’t had a crush on this girl back in Middle School for nothing.

Hope looked up, and Josie actually saw her eyes fill with awe and love. Lizzie did, of course, look beautiful. She was dressed in a light blue dress, one that sort of made her look like a Disney princess. 

Lizzie reached the bottom of the stairs, and shyly smiled at Hope, who smiled back, just as awkwardly. Josie almost wanted to scream ‘just kiss already’, but she held herself back. It was probably the most self-control that she’d ever exercised, and considering the events of the past two weeks, that was really saying something.

“Wow, you uh, um, you look so beautiful Lizzie,” Hope stumbled out.

Lizzie nodded frantically and swallowed. “You look really handsome; I like the suit.” 

They stared at each other for another long moment. In the end, it was Caroline who broke it up.

“Well girls, you’d better get going. I’m sure Klaus won’t want you to be away for too long. Jo and I will be right behind you.”

Lizzie and Hope both nodded and headed out the door. Josie would feel a little bit upset that they hadn’t really acknowledged her, but to be fair, she was in pyjamas.

Caroline turned to Josette.

“Ten bucks says that they’ll be together by the end of the night.”

Josie and Josette snorted in unison.

“Are you kidding?”

“They’ve been pining for years, give them the rest of this one before you start making bets,” Josette told her wife. Caroline huffed.

“I’m tired of the pining! Seriously, I raised my girl to be smarter than this.”

Josette laid a calming hand on her shoulder.

“Lizzie will get there eventually.” She looked up at Josie. “Are you gonna be okay?”

Josie nodded. “I’ll be fine, enjoy your night.”

Her mothers nodded, and turned to leave. As they headed out the door, Caroline told her, “If you get lonely, invite one of your friends over!”

The door shut, and Josie sighed.

Yeah, like that was going to happen.

+++

It was nine o’clock when Josie’s phone buzzed with a text notification. She’d been attempting to do some of her music homework, but her brain didn’t feel like composing some impressionistic instrumental. There were too many lyrics in her head.

She looked down at her phone, and rolled her eyes when she saw who it was.

**Jade <3: Josie, can we please talk?**

She quickly texted back.

**Josie: No.**

She knew that Jade would not leave it at that, but she was still surprised at the speed with which Jade replied.

**Jade <3: Josie, come on, I was jealous and stupid. I felt insecure in my own relationship. You have to understand that I didn’t want to hurt you.**

Josie had to admit that she understood where Jade was coming from. She had been staring at Penelope, or being distracted by thoughts of Penelope a lot. Still, Jade fucked up, and Josie wasn’t going to let that go. Besides, she had to admit, this whole relationship had probably been doomed from day one.

**Josie: Look, I get it. And I am sorry for how distracted I’ve been. I don’t think I should’ve gotten into a relationship so quickly after me and Penelope broke up.**

**Josie: But that doesn’t excuse what you did. You stole my phone, and you deliberately invaded my privacy, and then you didn’t even have the guts to come clean until someone else told me.**

**Josie: I’m sorry Jade, but it’s over. Please stop texting me.**

**Jade <3: Josie, you can’t expect me to let this go.**

**Jade <3: I love you, I’m willing to fix this.**

Jade may have been willing to fix it, but Josie wasn’t. She blocked Jade’s number, knowing that if she left it, she’d be getting spammed for the rest of the night. 

She turned back to her music, and stared at the blank screen for a moment, before slamming the laptop shut. There was no way that she would get any work done tonight, not with all the thoughts in her head.

She walked over to where she kept her keyboard. It hadn’t been used in a while, as Josie mostly preferred composing on her ukulele, but today, it felt like this instrument would be the most helpful tool in getting the words out.

What to sing about though? It had to be a breakup song, or at least one about love lost, because that was all that she could think about right now. She could only think about Jade and Penelope, and the ways in which they’d both hurt her.

Best to start with Jade, that was the less complicated part of all of this. 

Her fingers rested on the keys, and then she started playing some basic chords, trying to figure out a progression. Once she had something that sounded nice, she tried adding lyrics.

“I found a girl; told me I was a star. She held the door, held my hand in the dark,” she began, her voice shaking a little. Jade never had a shortage of compliments for Josie. During the summer, she’d been Josie’s number one fan, and had hyped her up at all rehearsals, even though she was just an understudy. 

“And she’s perfect on paper, but she’s lying to my face.” That was the thing about Jade, wasn’t it? She was the golden girl, Josie had truly believed that she could do no wrong, that she was perfect. And maybe that had been unfair of her, but Jade really hadn’t done much to disprove it. Not until recently.

“Does she think that I’m the kinda girl who needs to be saved?” Josie didn’t want to need saving. She didn’t need jealousy, or other people getting poisoned. She just wanted someone who’d stand by her, someone who would smile as she found her own way to shine. 

Her fingers left the keys, and she stood, fumbling on her desk for a notebook and pen, so that she could write down what she had so far. She finally grabbed her bright pink songbook, and started scribbling down the words. 

She turned back to the keyboard. She didn’t even need to think about what the next verse would be about. Or, more specifically, who. 

“And there’s one more girl, she’s from my past. We fell in love but it didn’t last.” Well, to be fair, Penelope didn’t fall in love with Josie, but that didn’t fit what Josie was trying to say. And they had loved each other, just in a different way.

“Cause the second I figure it out, she pushes me away, and I won’t fight for love if you won’t meet me halfway.” Penelope had pushed Josie away, had shut her out, hadn’t even given them a chance to fix what they had. What was Josie supposed to do? She couldn’t fight for a relationship that the other person didn’t even want to acknowledge.

“And I say that I’m through, but this song is still for you.” Every thought that Josie had somehow found its way back to Penelope, it only made sense that this song would too.

“All I want is love that lasts, is all I want too much to ask?” Josie just wanted to be put first, to be loved by the girl who she loved. 

“Is it something wrong with me?” Her voice broke a little and she had to pause. That was the question, wasn’t it? Was there just something wrong with her, that made her break everything? What was it that Penelope, the one person who knew her better than she knew herself, had seen that made her want to leave?

“All I want is a good girl, are my expectations out of this world? Try my best, but what can I say, all I have is myself at the end of the day. But shouldn’t that be enough for me?” It should be enough but Josie never felt like enough. Not for herself, not for anyone else.

She stepped away from her keyboard for a moment to take a breath. This song felt different to all the ones she’d written recently, it felt like it truly grasped her situation.

Josie was just about to turn back to her keyboard, when her phone started ringing. She frowned. Who would be calling her right now? The only people who would, were at the gala right now, dancing the night away.

She picked up her phone, half expecting it to be Jade, somehow managing to call despite her number being blocked, but it was Landon. Her confusion increased. Why would Landon be calling her? Surely, he had the wrong number.

She let it ring through, and turned back to her keyboard, but her phone started ringing again, once more from Landon. Her brow furrowed and she picked up the phone again.

Deciding that she’d better answer, she tapped the accept button, and held the phone up to her ear.

“Landon? Why are you calling me?”

“Hey Josie, I know that we aren’t really friends, and that it’s late, but I really needed to.”

Josie frowned. He sounded worried, “What’s wrong?”

“It’s Penelope.”

Josie’s stomach dropped. 

“What happened? Is she okay?” Already, her mind was spinning through a thousand things that could have gone wrong. A car crash, a robbery gone wrong, or perhaps something with her parents, maybe someone had died, Josie didn’t know, and it felt like she couldn’t breathe.

Then Landon spoke, “So, you know her mum’s back, right?” 

Josie nodded, then, upon realising that Landon couldn’t see her nodding, said, “Yes.”

“Well, Penelope didn’t want to go home tonight. So, she didn’t.”

“What do you mean she didn’t?”

“She didn’t go home. I’d offer to let her stay the night at mine, but my parents have guests over, and I apparently snore like a train. Usually, she’d just go to Hope’s but there’s the gala, and so, I don’t know where she is, but she isn’t home, and I’m really worried.”

Josie stood up, and started to pace around her room.

“Well, what do you want me to do?”

“Can you call her? She’ll pick up, it’s you, and, well, I don’t know, maybe convince her to go home. Or, she could crash at yours. Wait, no that’d probably be weird for you, sorry.”  
She sighed, “No, it’s fine. I might actually suggest that if she’s stubborn about not going home. I’ll text you updates.”

“Thanks Josie.”

She ended the call, and for a moment just stared at the wall. Penelope was probably at the park right now, and it was dark outside, and who knew what could happen? Besides, it was a school night, and she needed to get at least some amount of sleep.

Josie didn’t even hesitate. She opened Penelope’s contact and called.

It rang once.

Twice.

And then Penelope picked up.

“Josie?” Her voice was scratchy, and Josie suspected that she’d been crying. 

“Penelope, where are you?” 

Penelope sighed, “Did Landon tell you to call me?” She sounded almost disappointed.

“Yes, but I’m really worried about you. Are you at the park?”

“Why? You gonna tell me to go home? Because we both know that I’m not doing that.”

“No, I’m asking because I’m gonna come and get you.”

There was silence for a moment, and Josie could picture the shock on Penelope’s face.

“Why would you do that? I’m sure you don’t want me anywhere near you.”

“Penelope, I don’t care if things are weird between us, I’m worried about you, and I’m not letting you spend the night in a park. You can sleep on the floor in the living room if you want, but I’m taking you back to my house.”

Penelope sighed, “Josie, you don’t have to. I can go home.”

Josie was actually hurt by the thought that Penelope would rather go back to her home than be in the same house as Josie. But she knew Penelope, and she still remembered her incessant need to not be a burden. 

“Penelope, I know you don’t want to, and I want you to feel safe. If you can tell me that you’d be able to go home, and not feel uncomfortable, then I’ll let it go.”

There was silence.

“That’s what I thought,” Josie said. 

“I’m at the park,” Penelope confirmed, and Josie could hear the exhaustion in her voice. She wondered how bad her day had been.

“Okay, I’ll be there in ten. Do not move.” She hung up the call and texted Landon.

**Josie: I’m picking Penelope up and taking her back to mine. I’ll let you know once we’re both back.**

**Lando: cool thanks**

Josie stood and walked downstairs. She didn’t bother changing out of her pyjamas, they weren’t too embarrassing. Plus, no one would be seeing her. She just pulled on some shoes, and a jacket, and walked out to the car. 

She’d never thought that she’d be anymore grateful than she already was that her mums had bought her and Lizzie a car, but right now, she really was.

Josie climbed into the car and turned it on, “I’m coming to get you Penelope. It’s going to be okay,” she whispered into the empty car. 

It didn’t matter how awkward things were, she needed to help Penelope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hold on to your hats Posie fans, because this is about to start getting extra interesting!  
> The next chapter will be from Penelope's perspective, and you will finally get to see what happened that rattled her so much. And don't worry, you'll also get some quality Posie hurt/comfort!  
> Until then, stay safe and keep those vibes immaculate!


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my lovely readers! Today I have for you a Penelope POV which explains why she was so upset, and also contains some soft Posie content!  
> Enjoy!

Penelope was a colossal idiot. 

Usually, when she went to school, she had everything she needed, and she’d get there on time, and everything would go just as planned. But today she was nearly late for homeroom, and she left her script at home.

All because she was worried about her mother’s return. 

Penelope had only found out that the demon who called herself a mother was returning last night, when her mother had texted her father. It was typical, she hadn’t even bothered to call, or give them any better notice. They were just supposed to be okay no matter what.

Her father was acting weird, well, weirder than usual, but he always did when her mother was home. Penelope couldn’t remember a time when her parents could be in the same room without being cold. 

It really was an unpleasant experience to watch your parents fall apart right in front of you. Especially when her mother seemed to think that it was Penelope’s fault. Not that she’d ever said anything, but she’d never needed to.

The point was, Penelope had left her script at home, and it was a blocking rehearsal, which meant that she really, really needed it. So, she’d decided to take the five minute walk home after school, hoping to grab her script and get back to school before rehearsal started.

The only problem was that her dad had decided to clean the house, and he didn’t remember when he’d put her script.

“Dad, this is important!”

“I know Penny, and I’m sorry. Your mother coming back has just got me a little rattled.”

Penelope scoffed, picking up a couch cushion to check under it for her script, “You aren’t the only one.”

He nodded, “You’ll be home in time for dinner, right?”

Penelope sighed. 

“Yes dad, I’ll be home. We’ve been over this.”

“I know, but this is important.”

Penelope rolled her eyes. 

“To be perfectly honest, I don’t see how her coming back is cause for excitement. She’ll be leaving within weeks anyways.” Her dad was silent, so Penelope decided that the conversation was over.

Penelope was about to start checking the garbage bins, just in case he’d thrown it in there, thinking it was something unimportant, when the door opened. Both her and her father turned to look at in surprise.

Her mother walked through, pushing her sunglasses up onto her head, and readjusting her grip on her bag. 

Penelope hated herself for the way that some part of her was glad to see her mother. No matter how hard she tried, there would always be that part of her that just wanted her mum. Even if her mother had never been there to begin with.

“What are you doing here?” Her dad sounded more anxious than usual, but her mother didn’t seem to notice at all.

“Oh, I caught an early flight. Figured there was no point delaying.”

“We agreed to meet at the restaurant,” her dad said, something else underlying his words. Her mother shrugged.

“I figured I could stop in here.” Her eyes flicked to Penelope. “I thought that she’d be at school.”

Penelope was glad that her mother had finally noticed her, but the annoyance in her voice struck a chord deep inside of her.

“Well, I’m sorry to be messing up your plans. I’ll be out of your hair soon.” Penelope turned away, but then her mother spoke.

“There’s no need for that. Richard, why don’t we just tell her now?” Her voice was curt, like she was discussing a business deal. What the hell was she talking about?

“Are you serious? We agreed to do this at dinner,” her dad’s voice was raising in volume, and Penelope turned back to see him running a hand through his hair.

“She’s here now, isn’t she? Why delay it?”

Penelope looked between her parents who seemed intent on having a staring contest in front of her, instead of just telling her. She waited, feeling the pressure inside of her growing, threatening to break out. 

Finally, she snapped, “Stop acting like children and fucking tell me what it is.”

“Watch your language Penelope.” Her mother didn’t even have the decency to look at Penelope as she admonished her.

Penelope turned to her dad. 

“Dad, tell me.”

He looked at her, hesitating. Whatever it was, it was bad.

"Dad, please," Penelope hated how she let emotion into her voice, but she needed to know.

He sighed.

“Penny, your mother and I are getting a divorce. We’re legally separating, and she’s going to live in Chicago. Permanently.”

Penelope felt like the ground had just disappeared, like she was hovering above an empty abyss. Every part of her was numb. She didn’t even know what she was supposed to feel right now.

Her mother was leaving. For good. She was turning her back on them, like she’d been wanting to for years. Penelope supposed that she’d always known that it would come to this, had wanted her parents to get a divorce, because she knew their marriage was in shambles, but now that it was happening?

Penelope couldn’t deal with it. She’d never been able to deal with things like this. So, she did what she did best. Lash out. 

“So, you finally decided to abandon us? Good for you. Personally, I’ve been waiting for this moment for years.”

Her mother turned to look at her.

“Watch your attitude Penelope.”

“Do you have the ability to say anything to me that isn’t criticism? Or did you forget how to do that when you stopped caring about us?”

“Penelope, stop,” her dad told her tiredly, but Penelope didn’t listen.

“Thanks for checking in by the way. You know, because I think the last time you called was June. Maybe you should actually remember that you have a kid.”

Her mother strode over to her, somehow managing to make Penelope feel tiny.

“You’re acting immaturely. I expect better of you Penelope. I think you should head up to your room and cool down.”

Penelope scoffed, “Actually, no, I can’t do that. I have to get to rehearsals, which you would know if you cared about my life.” Penelope shoved past her and grabbed her bag from the ground.

“Penelope, what time will you be home?” At least her dad cared a little bit. Penelope shrugged.

“I don’t know. It’s rehearsal, there’s a lot of scenes and stuff. I might be back tomorrow. I guess we’ll see, won’t we?” She slammed the door behind her and strode away from the house, trying to move quickly, so that her dad wouldn’t try to chase her down.

Not that he ever would. He’d have to actually be worried about her for that to happen, and he wouldn’t be worried unless she didn’t come home for three days. As for her mother, well, she would probably be happier if Penelope never came home.

Penelope wiped the tears that were forming in her eyes away with the back of her hand. Fuck. She couldn’t show up to rehearsal like this. She checked her watch. 3:45. Too late to worry about looking presentable. She put on a little speed, and hoped that by the time she had arrived at the school, she wouldn’t feel like her heart had fallen out of her chest.

+++

Rehearsal was shit. If you could even call it rehearsal. It was more like Penelope walked in the door, got called out, and then left. 

Kol was disappointed, that much was obvious. As he should be, because Penelope was late, and she’d still managed to forget her fucking script. Literally, the one reason why she’d even gone home in the first place, and she couldn’t even manage to bring that.

Maybe her mother was right when she’d said that Penelope didn’t know how to do anything without acting like a child, maybe Josie was right when she told Penelope that she couldn’t commit to anything, maybe everyone was right, and she was just going to mess everything up for everyone.

After all, she was doing a great job at it so far, wasn’t she?

When Josie found her in the bathroom, Penelope was so lost in a spiral of self-hatred that she didn’t even notice the other girl entering. 

She tried to deflect, to shut down, to leave, because that was the safest option, wasn’t it? Josie was probably going to be mad at her for ruining the rehearsal. 

She didn’t expect Josie to be worried, but she should have known. Josie had been her best friend before this whole mess, she knew exactly what Penelope’s relationship with her mum was like. 

Josie told her that she could talk to her at any time. Penelope really wished that she had the courage to do so. God, all she really wanted right now was to go sit on Josie’s bed, right next to Josie, and to just talk to her. To explain everything. Because this whole plan that she’d come up with was shit. It was just making everything worse.

She was just hurting Josie more every day, making it harder for her to put her needs first the way she needed to. And Penelope was still thinking about Josie every day, unable to move from where she’d placed herself on this chessboard. She just wanted to tell Josie the truth, because she was tired, and she needed Josie by her side again.

But she didn’t have the right to talk to Josie like that anymore. If Josie hated her, Josie hated her, Penelope shouldn’t force her to be okay with everything. Besides, she couldn’t be a burden. Especially not now, when Josie was going through problems with Jade.

Penelope needed to not be selfish. For once in her life.

When she got to Kol’s office, he looked less mad, and more disappointed. Great.

“Kol, look, I’m sorry. I know that doesn’t excuse it, but this really was a one-time thing. I left my script at home, and I went to get it, and my mother was there, and I got distracted.” She looked at him, trying her best to convince him that she was being sincere.

He sighed.

“I believe you. I’m disappointed, because you are our Troy, and you set an example for the cast, but it’s not just you. Everyone’s been a little slack, and I get that there’s a lot going on, and I suppose it’s also due to me as a director.”

Penelope shrugged.

“We just haven’t had something to bond us together yet. You’ll see. It always happens.”

He nodded, “I do hope that’s true.” He looked at her, the disappointment on his face turning to concern. “Is everything alright at home?”

Penelope hadn’t been expecting him to be so direct about it.

“Uh, well, my mother just got back from Chicago. We have a sort of rocky relationship.”

He chuckled wryly, “Believe me, I understand rocky relationships with parents.”

Penelope thought of what she had heard of Mikael and Esther Mikaelson, and decided that he probably did know what he was talking about. 

He sighed.

“Speaking of my family, I really should get ready for our gala. I don’t suppose you got an invite?”

Penelope shook her head, “No, but Lizzie did.”

He bobbed his head, “Right. Well, you should head off. I wish you luck with your mother.”

She smiled at him, and as quickly as she could, exited the room and the school.

Once she got to the carpark, she realised that she had no fucking idea what she was doing. She couldn’t go home. She just couldn’t deal with her mother right now. And she couldn’t turn up at the gala, she didn’t have an outfit, plus, she’d never really liked those things. She knew that Landon’s family had guests over, and Kaleb had mentioned having a sleepover at MG’s for Chemistry study.

There was nowhere for her to go. 

So, she just went to the park. Maybe she had no plan, but at least she would have no plan in her space.

She barely noticed the sky turning to orange, then pink, then fading into dark blue, and finally pitch black, broken only by the pinpricks of stars in the sky. Her music was loud, and her eyes were pressed firmly shut. That way she could pretend that she didn’t even feel the tears rolling down her cheeks.

To pass the time, she picked up her phone and started scrolling through some of her recent conversations. Suddenly, she remembered the strangest one that she’d had over the weekend. 

Penelope had been minding her own business, when out of nowhere, Lizzie Forbes-Laughlin had texted her.

**Lizzie: Satan.**

**Penelope: why is the wrong twin texting me**

**Lizzie: Like Josie would go anywhere near you now**

**Penelope: ooh harsh burn**

**Penelope: is that all you’ve got? because i have better things to waste my time on than you.**

Penelope had expected for Lizzie to end the conversation there, but then she’d kept going.

**Lizzie: no, I wanted to talk to you**

**Lizzie: don’t be a bitch.**

**Penelope: you wanted to talk to me? why?**

**Lizzie: Do you think I’m a bad person**

**Penelope had been a little surprised by that question. Lizzie often gave off the air of someone who knew exactly who they were, and didn’t care if other people didn’t like it.**

Obviously, she knew it wasn’t true, but still, Penelope had never really seen the insecure side of Lizzie, she’d only really heard about it from Hope and Josie.

**Penelope: before i answer, what brought this on**

**Lizzie: I feel like I’m a bad sister, because I comforted Josie about Jade being a dick, and she was genuinely surprised.**

**Lizzie: She was surprised that I cared.**

**Lizzie: And we both know that I’m a narcissist, but I also have so much self hatred, so I can’t trust my own judgement, and you’re the only person that I know who would be brutally honest with me, because you don’t owe me anything.**

**Lizzie: So, do you think I’m a bad person**

**Penelope didn’t even have to think before she answered that message.**

**Penelope: no.**

**Penelope: do i think that you can be a bitch a lot of the time, and that you need to learn how to listen to other people and stop making everything about yourself? yeah.**

**Penelope: but i get the feeling that you know that, and that u want to be better.**

**Penelope: so no i don’t think ur a bad person**

**Lizzie: what did you mean when you said that i was the third part of your relationship with josie?**

Penelope had actually snorted aloud in her room when she’d seen that.

**Penelope: what is this, twenty questions?**

**Lizzie: Answer the damn question Satan**

Penelope hadn’t thought that she’d ever have that particular conversation with Lizzie, but this year had been full of nothing but surprises.

**Penelope: towards the end, josie had no time for me**

**Penelope: she acted like i was just a side character in her life, like i was just someone who could make her feel better if she needed it, but she never actually paid attention to me**

**Penelope: because she was taking care of you and your feelings because of your Hope crisis**

**Lizzie: what**

**Penelope: don’t play dumb with me**

**Penelope: and before you freak out, i haven’t told hope anything**

**Lizzie: i don’t have feelings for hope**

**Penelope: mkay sweetie, that’s a convo for another time**

**Lizzie: do you really think that i took up josie’s time**

**Penelope: look, she probably used you as an excuse to avoid me, which i don’t get, but i know that apart from that, you didn’t make it easy on us**

**Penelope: you actively insulted me**

**Penelope: and josie always had to cater to you, and she never stood up for me, and let me be honest, it fucking hurt that she didn’t**

**Penelope: i cant blame you for everything, but you still were a problem at times**

**Lizzie: thank you**

Penelope didn’t think that Lizzie had ever thanked her for anything ever in her life.

**Penelope: for what**

**Lizzie; For being honest**

**Penelope: well, you’re fucking welcome**

**Lizzie: you still have feelings for josie don’t you**

That text had surprised Penelope. She hadn’t thought that Lizzie paid enough attention to Penelope to notice.

**Penelope: what**

**Lizzie: don’t play dumb with me, i see how you look at my sister**

**Penelope: josie and i are complicated, and if you cared about anything that i just said, i’d suggest staying out of it**

**Lizzie: you know you’re hurting her, right?**

Penelope had decided to not answer that, because she was definitely not having that conversation with Lizzie.

The last message in the conversation was from Lizzie.

**Lizzie: Real mature Park, just ghost me**

Reading over it now hurt Penelope, because Lizzie was right, wasn’t she? Penelope was hurting Josie, it seemed that she couldn’t do anything but hurt Josie. 

All she did was make things worse, no matter what she tried. 

Hope and Landon both texted her. Hope asked how she was going, what had been up with her at rehearsals. Penelope assured her that she was fine, and that she’d fill her in tomorrow, but that Hope should enjoy her night with Lizzie. 

Landon just asked if she wanted to talk. It was late, and she’d finally grown bored of trying to break her eardrums with music.

**Penelope: My mother is home.**

**LanLan: oh shit**

**LanLan: I’m guessing that didn’t go well**

**Penelope: oh it was just the usual.**

**Penelope: she pretends i don’t exist, and when she does acknowledge me, it’s to criticise everything i do**

**LanLan: do you reckon she’ll try to talk to you anymore tonight**

**Penelope: well I’m not at home, so hopefully not**

**LanLan: Wait, where r u then**

**Penelope: not home.**

**Penelope: It’s chill, she won’t get worried unless my body turns up in the river.**

**Penelope: then she might be a little bit worried**

**LanLan: penelope, seriously, where are you**

**Penelope: relax. I’m fine.**

**LanLan: Penelope**

At that point, Penelope didn’t feel like carrying on the conversation, so she just put her phone down. It rang twice, both from Landon, and she didn’t answer. He worried too much for his own good.

Then, ten or so minutes later, her phone rang again. Penelope picked it up, with half a mind to tell Landon to just go to sleep. But it wasn’t Landon who was calling her.

It was Josie. 

So, Penelope picked it up.

Josie had been sent by Landon, of course. She wouldn’t have called unless someone else had asked her to. Penelope allowed herself to feel just a little disappointed about that. But then she remembered that she was the one who had pushed Josie away, and it was her own fault that Josie wouldn’t want to call her.

Penelope normally would have resisted her a little bit harder, but she was just so tired. And Josie was there, asking her to come home to her, just like Penelope had wanted. Like it was the old days, when Penelope would come over on the gala nights, and her and Josie would spend the night watching dumb movies and laughing over the stupidest things. 

So, she told Josie where she was, and she waited.

Once more, she didn’t notice Josie until she was right in front of her. Penelope’s eyes focused, and there she was, with that concerned pout that Penelope used to kiss off of her face.

“Penelope, hey, it’s me.” 

Penelope looked at her, looked at her brown eyes, the way that the one streetlight cast shadows across her face, and realised again that she’d never meet someone as beautiful as Josie Forbes-Laughlin.

“Penelope?” Josie tilted her head, and Penelope became aware of how awful she must look. All the makeup would have been washed away with tears, and her eyes would be red and puffy, and her sleeves were covered in tears and snot, and god she felt like a wreck. 

Josie laid a tentative hand on Penelope’s shoulder, and it took everything in her to not flinch away. But then she felt a wave of calm run through her, like Josie’s touch was all that she needed to ground her, and suddenly she was tumbling into Josie’s arms like a puppet with all its strings cut.

She expected Josie to stiffen, or to maybe push her back. But Josie didn’t hesitate, she just pulled Penelope in and held her tightly. 

“I’ve got you, it’s okay,” Josie whispered into her shoulder.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” Penelope whispered back, trying to somehow apologise for everything she’d done to Josie since they met that day on the playground in Kindergarten. How much better would Josie’s life have been if they’d never met, if she’d befriended someone else? 

The selfish part of Penelope decided that she didn’t want to know the answer. 

She just kept holding Josie like a lifeline, apologising for all that she had done, and all that she would ever do, as if it would be enough.

+++

Penelope didn’t remember getting into the car. Suddenly, she was just sitting there, next to Josie in the heated car, and Josie was watching her worriedly. Penelope realised at this point that Josie was still in pyjamas, just with a coat thrown over her. 

It was her pink ones, with “I’m happier when I’m sleeping” written across them. Penelope had always loved those, had always thought that Josie looked so adorable in them. 

Though, her favourites were Josie’s dinosaur pyjamas, because they reminded her of the time that Josie had gone on an animated rant about dinosaurs and how cool they were.  
Josie was such a nerd.

“Are you o-wait no dumb question. Do you feel any better now?” Josie looked at Penelope, waiting for an answer.

Penelope sighed. It was about time that she stopped fucking lying to Josie.

“No. But I think if I stay with you a little longer then maybe I will.”

Josie seemed shocked, but she nodded.

“Okay. Do you want to talk about it, or do you want to just go back to mine?”

Penelope sighed, “My parents are getting a divorce, and my mum is permanently moving to Chicago,” she told her bluntly. It felt good to say it to someone. 

Josie’s eyes widened. 

“Oh my god. Seriously?”

“Yep. I never actually thought they’d do it, but I guess they finally realised that they fucking hate each other.”

Josie shifted her hands on her lap.

“How do you feel?”

Penelope leaned back against the car seat.

“I don’t fucking know. I should be glad, it’s what I’ve been expecting for so long, and I’ve been telling them to do it for ages, but now that it’s happening? I have no fucking clue how to feel.”

Josie nodded, “I think that’s normal.”

Penelope shook her head. 

“No offence Josie, but nothing in my life is really normal at the moment.”

Josie laughed awkwardly.

“That’s fair.”

Penelope turned to look at her properly.

“I’m sorry about dragging you into this mess. And I don’t just mean tonight. I mean everything I’ve been doing. I’ve been fucking with your life as well, and that’s really unfair to you.”

Josie looked back at Penelope.

“What do you mean?”

Penelope sighed.

“I mean that I’m sorry for auditioning for Troy, especially using your song, and I’m sorry for arguing with you in the bathroom that day, and I’m sorry for riling you up at rehearsals, and I’m sorry for however I’ve affected you and Jade’s relationship. Mostly, I’m just sorry for hurting you like that when I broke up with you. It was fucked up.”

Josie looked away from Penelope, and was silent. Penelope just waited. For what, she wasn’t entirely sure. She didn’t even want forgiveness at this point. She just wanted Josie to not be hurt. Because that was really, the last thing that she’d ever wanted.

Instead of replying. Josie started the car. Penelope finally looked away, choosing to stare out the window and ignore the tears forming in her own eyes. It was to be expected. She really was the villain of this story. 

At this point, that wasn’t even her self-hatred speaking. It was the truth. Because you couldn’t be a hero, and hurt someone as good as Josie.

“Thank you for apologising.” 

For a moment, Penelope thought that she was imagining it, but then she realised that Josie had actually spoken. She looked over at Josie, who was still looking at the road.

“It’s the least I could do. Especially since you’re letting me stay over.”

Josie shrugged.

“It’s really not that big of a deal. I want to make sure that you’re safe. And plus, if you’re there, I won’t be lonely.”

Penelope chuckled. “I don’t know if I’ll make good company.”

Josie smiled faintly.

“I can’t imagine a world where you wouldn’t make good company.” 

Penelope couldn’t think of a response for that, so she stayed silent. They both stayed silent for the rest of the drive, but thankfully, it didn’t feel uncomfortable. 

+++

The house was quiet when they both entered. Penelope supposed that was to be expected, considering that Josie’s mothers and sister were at the gala. A thought occurred to Penelope.

“Did you tell your mums that I was staying over? Because if they aren’t okay with it, I’ll leave.”

Josie just stared at her. Penelope frowned.

“What?”

“When have you ever cared about whether or not my mums were okay with something? You literally once climbed up the side of my house and through my window because I was grounded.”

She did have a point. Penelope still remembered that afternoon, remembered how absolutely terrified she’d be of falling and breaking her neck. But she’d convinced herself to do it, because Josie was lonely, and Penelope needed to step up her game to be as romantic as possible. 

Josie had fussed over her for nearly twenty minutes. Penelope had assured her that she was fine, but Josie told her that under no circumstances was she to ever do that again. Penelope had agreed, and had spent the afternoon trying to make Josie smile.

In the end, Lizzie had helped sneak Penelope out the house, and Josie was pretty sure that to this day her mothers had no idea that it had ever happened. Or, if they did, they had thankfully not brought it up.

“Penelope. Are you okay?” 

Penelope smiled at Josie.

“Yeah, I was just thinking about that time, when I climbed up the side of the house. You were so scared.”

Josie rolled her eyes.

“You could’ve broken your arm, or leg, or neck. Of course, I was scared.”

Penelope just grinned. Josie cleared her throat.

“So, uh, what do you want to do?”

Penelope felt that self-consciousness creep back under her skin. Being here, in Josie’s house, after all that had happened felt wrong, like she was violating Josie’s space somehow. Penelope herself had no problem with it, sometimes Josie’s house had felt safer than her own, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was making Josie uncomfortable.

Josie was known for putting aside her own feelings to help other people. Penelope had to make sure that she wasn’t hurting Josie anymore than she already had.

“You’re sure that you’re comfortable with me here? Because I swear, if at any time you want me to leave, I will, in a heartbeat.”

Josie sighed, and stepped closer. Penelope thought that this was the closest they’d been outside of the stage in almost four months.

“Penelope. I want you here. If it helps you feel better, you’re carrying on a prestigious tradition of keeping me company when the rest of my family is at the gala.” Josie smiled at her, and Penelope smiled back, wondering if there was a way to make it so that she never had to see Josie doing anything other than smiling at her ever again. 

Memories passed through her mind of all the nights she’d kept Josie company. Josie had admitted to her that she got scared sometimes when she was alone in the house at night. So, if Penelope thought about it like that, then she was really helping Josie.

Maybe it said something about her that her justification for everything was helping Josie. Maybe she should look at all her choices, and she’d see that a lot of them were just self-serving moves that really benefited no one but herself.

Josie tapped her arm.

“Do you want to take a shower? I remember you telling me once that having a shower after a breakdown helped.” 

Penelope nodded slowly.

“I don’t have a change of clothes.”

Josie looked down at the floor, suddenly seeming nervous.

“Uh, well, I kinda might have the overnight clothes that you used to leave here. You never took them back home. I can give you those if you’d like.”

If she wasn’t so tired, Penelope would definitely make a point about how Josie so quickly remembered that she had the clothes. But, right now, she really did just need a shower. 

She gave Josie a small nod, and headed up the stairs. 

“I’ll leave them by the door,” Josie called after her. Penelope turned back around, and leaned on the arm rail.

“You can leave them inside the bathroom.” 

Josie blushed, and Penelope just grinned.

“Don’t worry Josie, it’s nothing you haven’t seen before, right?”

Josie fixed her with a glare, but there was no real malice in it. It was the same look she’d always give Penelope when Penelope made dirty jokes or teased Josie.

“Okay,” she mumbled. Penelope smiled and headed up to the shower. 

Hopefully after this, she would start feeling a little more like herself. And maybe, just maybe, her and Josie could finally talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Josie and Penelope are alone together in a house, and Penelope's decided that she wants to talk. I don't think I have to tell you guys that the next chapter is going to be Eventful.  
> I wanted to ask you guys if you're enjoying this fic, and if so, what has been one of your favourite parts so far? Your kudos and comments mean the world to me, seriously, without you guys I probably would've given up on this fic ages ago!  
> Until next time, which will be a very exciting time, I wish you all happy days!


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everybody! I'm not gonna say anything, because no spoilers!  
> Enjoy!

Once Penelope was dressed in the clothes that Josie had left in the bathroom, after opening the door about one inch and almost throwing them in, she examined herself in the mirror.

She looked so fucking tired, but Penelope knew that no matter what, she wouldn’t sleep much tonight. There were too many thoughts in her mind, and besides, her sleeping pattern was fucked. 

The clothes were comfortable at least. The top was a white shirt with a turtle on it, that Josie had gotten Penelope as a joke, but Penelope had loved so much that she insisted on wearing it to sleep whenever she stayed over. The pants were just comfy blue tracksuit bottoms.

Deciding that she couldn't hide in this bathroom any longer, she pushed the door open and slowly made her way down the hallway. Josie was sitting cross legged on her bed when Penelope poked her head in.

“Hey Josie,” she said, wincing at how rough her voice still sounded. There may have been a little bit of screaming at the lake, mixing in with all the sobbing. 

It was stupid, she didn’t know why she had been crying. She wasn’t sad or anything. She was more just numb. Although, Penelope had often thought that numbness was caused by feeling a bunch of emotions too strongly that your brain just couldn’t process it. Maybe the crying had been a way of getting rid of some of the emotions. 

Josie looked up and smiled. She rose to her feet.

“Hey. Do you feel better?”

Penelope nodded.

“Well, that’s good,” Josie told her, nodding her head. After a moment, she spoke again, “Do you want to do anything, or do you want to sleep? I can make up a bed in the living room if you want?”

Penelope felt a pang in her heart at the thought of sleeping in the living room. She’d been sharing Josie’s bed since they were kids. Although, she understood it. That was way too romantic for whatever it was that they were right now. 

“I don’t think I’ll get to sleep for a while,” Penelope admitted. 

Josie nodded, “Right, because your sleep schedule is messed up.”

Penelope rolled her eyes, “It’s not that bad.”

“It’s so bad. You used to finish assignments at like one in the morning and then spend the next three hours watching one of your many shows.”

Penelope chuckled. Josie had a point; she had spent many a night exactly like that, “Okay, that’s fair.”

Josie shook her head, “I still don’t know how you function every day at school.”

“Caffeine, and the knowledge that even tired as hell, I’m still the prettiest girl at the school.”

“Unfortunately,” Josie mumbled. Penelope rose an eyebrow and Josie’s eyes widened. Penelope got the feeling that Josie did not realise that she’d said that out loud. 

“I-I just mean that like, well, you’re obviously pretty, and you are the most attractive girl-wait no-wait not that you aren’t just that-fuck.” Josie dropped back down on her bed, putting her head in her hands.

Penelope tentatively crept over and sat next to Josie.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to explain anything to me.”

Josie nodded. but didn’t move her head from her hands. Penelope tried her hand at a joke to lighten the mood, and also because she couldn't pass up an opportunity to tease Josie just a bit.

“You think I’m pretty, though?”

Josie groaned. Penelope nudged her side with an elbow.

“Come on Jojo, I need an answer.” Penelope wanted to bite her tongue off. She needed to stop calling Josie that, especially after she’d made it clear that it made her uncomfortable. 

“Sorry. I know I shouldn’t call you that.”

Josie moved her head from her hands, eyes flicking over Penelope’s face, which must be twisted into a grimace.

“You know, it’s okay if you do call me that.”

Penelope shook her head, “It makes you uncomfortable.”

Josie shook her head, “That one time when we talked, I was just pissed off, and it reminded me of all the hurt.”

Penelope nodded, “There, exactly my point. I don’t want to hurt you anymore.”

Josie sighed, “That one time was an exception. I actually like it when you call me that, it makes me feel special. No one else called me that, it was only you. Always you.”

Their gazes met and for a moment all was still. There was nothing in the world that mattered but them. Some days Penelope wished it really was like that. She wished that it was just her and Josie, that they didn’t have to worry about everything else in their lives. 

But it wasn’t like that. Because despite how close they were right now, there was still a chasm between them. So, Penelope tried her best to cover that chasm with words.

“Okay, so I’ll stop panicking every time I call you that,” she said, looking away from Josie, fearing that if she’d kept staring, she’d have leant forwards and destroyed this delicate balance they had between them. 

Josie nodded.

“Cool.”

They sat in silence for a moment longer before Penelope sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

“Hey, um, can I talk to you about my mum and all this shit? You said you’d listen if I wanted to talk, and I think I might need to take you up on that offer.” It was incredibly hard for Penelope to admit that, but she supposed that she was trying to get better. Part of that for her, was communicating, and not shutting off.

Josie looked surprised, but she nodded.

“Yeah Pen, you can talk to me. I was being sincere when I told you that you could.”

Penelope nodded and sighed.

“It still doesn’t feel real. I’ve spent the whole afternoon trying to process it and I just can’t. Because she may be a bitch, and she may have hated me since I discovered what a personality was, but,” Penelope ran her hands through her hair again, “fuck, she’s my mum, and I can’t stop myself from wanting her to stay. I thought that she’d always be there, she’s supposed to always be there, right?”

Josie moved her hand to Penelope’s knee and gently squeezed it.

“Your mother doesn’t deserve you, okay? And it’s okay to be upset about it. You wanted her to love you, she should have loved you better, because that’s what mothers are meant to do.”

Penelope shook her head, “But I can’t stop thinking that maybe if I’d been a little better, or less trouble, or something, then maybe, I could’ve made it better. Maybe if I actually put in effort at home, dad would be less sad, and maybe she’d stick around if I was there to help.”

Josie shook her head, “Penelope, you’re seventeen. You shouldn’t be putting pressure like this on yourself.”

“But I could’ve been better.”

“Maybe. But you can’t stress out about that. She doesn’t deserve you at your best, okay? Do not blame yourself for your family, because it is not your responsibility. They should be taking care of you, and you have every right to be mad at them for not doing that.”

Penelope sighed. She knew that Josie was right, but she just couldn’t believe it. Her mother was always talking about how she needed to take on more responsibility at home, and her dad was always struggling to keep his head above water, and Penelope needed to be perfect. 

And she never was.

Josie sighed and reached out. Penelope found herself leaning against Josie, her head tucked into Josie’s neck. It was the safest she’d felt in months.

“Thank you for trying to convince me that I’m not to blame.”

Josie squeezed Penelope’s knee again.

“You aren’t. Even if you don’t believe it, I know it’s true. And I know that Hope and Landon would agree with me.”

Penelope chuckled, “You might be right about that. They are annoyingly supportive.”

Josie rolled her eyes. “It’s called being good friends. And don’t say that you don’t know anything about that because I know that you do the exact same thing for them.” Penelope knew that Josie was also thinking ‘it’s what you’d do for me’, even if she didn’t say it. 

They stayed silent for another moment, just listening to the other’s breathing, letting their heartbeats fall into synchronisation. 

“Penelope?” 

“Yeah, Josie?”

“What was in that voicemail?”

Penelope leaned away from Josie, chuckling. Josie would bring that up now.

“Oh, I see. You get me all vulnerable, and you ask the hard-hitting questions.”

Josie snorted, “Please, it couldn’t have been that bad.”

“I don’t know Jojo, it was pretty embarrassing.”

“Well, I’ll never know if you don’t tell me.”

“That’s precisely the point.”

Josie turned to Penelope and gave her the most heart melting pout possible. And Penelope was only human, there was no way she could resist that, could she? So, she sighed and leaned back on Josie’s shoulder.

“Okay, fine I’ll tell you.”

Josie chuckled, “Good.”

Penelope cast her mind back. She herself barely remembered what had been said. 

“Well, I said that I’d liked talking to you. This was the day that we’d made up, of course. And I said that the rehearsal was really good and that I knew we were gonna kill it.” 

Josie laughed gently, “You’re such a dork.”

“Hey, it’s theatre, I take it seriously.”

“I know you do. And that rehearsal was good.”

Penelope grinned, “Mostly because you actually looked at me.” She couldn’t see her face right now, but she knew that Josie was blushing. 

“That’s unfair.”

“It’s true though.”

Josie said nothing, and Penelope just laughed. Josie was so easy to tease, and Penelope loved seeing her the blush that would always spread across her cheeks. She lifted her head from Josie’s shoulder, and Josie ducked her head.

Penelope laughed and moved her hand to tilt Josie’s head back.

“Don’t hide that gorgeous face from me.”

Their eyes met again, and Penelope could physically feel the distance between them, even though it was so small, and it tore her apart. She felt like she was standing at the edge of a cliff and her legs were just begging to fall.

“Did you say anything else?” Josie’s voice was just a little breathless, and Penelope wasn’t too ashamed to admit that it caused butterflies to flit across her stomach.

“I said that I missed you.” Penelope didn’t add the bit about how she wanted them to be friends, that didn’t seem to be all that relevant right now.

“Do you still?” 

Penelope didn’t understand how Josie seemed to think that Penelope would have just changed her mind about that in the past week. She didn’t think that it was possible to not miss Josie.

“Of course, I miss you Josie. Who wouldn’t?”

Josie’s eyes were filled with so many emotions, and even thought they were so close, Penelope couldn’t tell what any of them were. But they were so close. 

She could count every eyelash, could probably tell you the exact shade of brown in Josie’s eyes, had to stop herself from staring at Josie's soft lips, because they were right there.

The seconds stretched, and it felt like eternity was happening somewhere between each breath. 

Josie’s eyes flicked down to Penelope’s lips, and then back up to her eyes, and Penelope watched her pupils dilate.

She could’ve pulled back. She should’ve pulled back. Any moment now, this trance would break, and it’d just be weird.

Josie’s eyes moved to her lips again.

Down.

Then back up.

The eternities between them stretched and stretched.

And then the tension between them snapped. 

Penelope leant forwards and kissed Josie. 

For a moment, she tasted the lips that she’d been craving for so long. She felt the comfort that she’d been missing for so long. It felt like every puzzle piece was falling into place.

Just for a moment, there was peace. 

Just for a moment, Josie kissed her back, like she’d been waiting for this moment just as fiercely as Penelope had been.

Everything was still, and all there was in the world was Josie, nothing but her and her lips, pressed up against Penelope, like she was meant to be there.

And then Josie pulled back. 

Penelope’s eyes stayed closed, as if she could hide from reality just a little longer.

Then Josie spoke. 

“Fuck, no, I shouldn’t have done that.”

Penelope’s eyes opened and the full weight of the situation slammed into her as she saw the regret on Josie’s face.

She’d just kissed Josie.

Fuck, she’d just kissed Josie, her ex, who to her knowledge, still had a fucking girlfriend. She’d kissed Josie, the girl who Penelope was meant to be staying away from, because there was still too much unresolved hurt between them both. 

She needed to leave. She’d just probably just made Josie so uncomfortable, and she couldn’t do that. Was it possible for her to do anything without fucking up? Shit, everyone was right, she was just selfish, and she just broke everything.

Penelope stood.

“Fuck, I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have done that either, I should go, I’m really sorry.” She looked around the room, trying to figure out the quickest way to gather all of her things. Josie would surely want her gone as soon as possible. 

“Wait no, Penelope, don’t leave.”

Penelope shook her head.

“No, I should go. I shouldn’t be here, I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable, and I’ve clearly just done that.” She grabbed her phone off of the table where Josie had in plugged in and shoved it into her pocket. Next, her clothes. Josie had put them in a disposable bag, so that was easy to just pick up and sling over her shoulder.

“Penelope, wait.”

Penelope headed out of Josie’s room, trying to figure out where she’d left her bag. Was it on the table, or by the door?

“Penelope Park don’t you dare leave this house!”

Penelope froze, and slowly turned. Josie was standing at her doorway, and she looked pissed. Well, Penelope did deserve whatever Josie had to say, so, might as well just stand and take it like a woman.

“You can’t just do that and leave. You can’t just leave every time you think that things aren’t going your way. I know that’s how you handle things, but right now, I am telling you no. You are in no shape to be going anywhere right now, and if you think I’m letting you go home, you’re wrong, so you are going to stay here and you are going to fucking talk to me, whether you like it or not.”

Penelope felt the bag of clothes slowly falling to the ground.

“Josie, I can’t stay.”

“Why? Because you think you’ve made me uncomfortable? Sure, maybe kissing me was a dumb move, but I kissed you back, and I think it would be way less uncomfortable for both of us if we actually talked about it.”

Penelope tried to come up with another reason, tried to explain that she couldn’t be here right now, but the only reasons she could come up with were selfish ones. 

The truth was, even though she knew that they needed to talk, she was absolutely terrified of the conversation. Because Josie was quite literally one of the few good things that she had left in her life. And she couldn’t handle the thought that maybe after the talk, maybe after Penelope told her the truth, Josie would still want nothing to do with her.

But she couldn’t say that, so she deflected.

“You have Jade. I doubt she’d like me staying the night.”

Josie scoffed, “First of all, you had no problem about staying the night before. Second, Jade and I broke up.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, you’re not.”

“I actually am.” Penelope saw the disbelief in Josie’s eyes and laughed humorlessly. “Wow, you really think that I’m happy that you got hurt. Good to see that you hold me in high esteem.”

Josie rolled her eyes.

“Forgive me for thinking that the girl who broke my heart cares about me being hurt.”

Penelope sighed, and felt a lump in her throat. No, not right now. She closed her eyes, trying her best to send away the tears. Now was not the time for the dam to break.

“Josie, you have to know—”

“I don’t actually, because you never told me anything. You just lied to me about why you wanted to break up, and then left me in the dark. What was I supposed to think?”

Josie knew that Penelope had lied? Shit. 

“And sure, maybe there was something wrong, but you should have talked to me instead of being a colossal bitch and pushing me away, and getting on my nerves again and again. I get it, it’s you, that’s how you are, but you were never supposed to be like that with—wait are you crying?”

Penelope hadn’t actually noticed, but yes, she was crying. Tears were streaming out of her closed eyes and when she opened them, everything was blurred.

“I’m fine, don’t worry about it,” Penelope tried to tell her, but she heard Josie move closer, and suddenly the tears were being wiped from her cheeks. 

“Hey, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

“No, don’t apologise, you’re right. Just because I’m crying doesn’t mean that you need to be sorry. I didn’t tell you anything, and I lied, and I hurt you, over and over again, and I,” her voice broke, and she had to take a few slow breaths before she could speak again, “I’m so sorry Jojo, I fucked up.”

Josie’s arms slipped around her waist, and once more, Penelope was tumbling into her arms, too tired to resist her magnetic pull. Josie rubbed her back in slow calming circles.

Penelope sniffled, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do this, you’re right.”

“Penelope, you’re crying, I don’t think you have control over this.”

“I still feel bad because—”

“Because you’ve trained yourself to believe that you’re a burden, yeah, I know the feeling.” Josie said it so calmly, and it broke Penelope even more, because how could Josie be so calm about her hurt? She deserved better than to think of herself like that.

Penelope pulled back and wiped at her eyes. Her legs decided at that point that they couldn’t hold her weight anymore, so she sunk down, and leant against one of the posts lining the stairs.

Josie sat down in front of her, and reached out to play with her fingers.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Penelope almost shook her head, but then she realised that the whole point of this was to talk to Josie, so she nodded slowly.

“I think I’ve just been holding in so many emotions. I knew that I was hurting, but I didn’t think I was this close to breaking.”

Josie sighed, “Yeah, because you overestimate your own limits.”

Penelope frowned, “No, I don’t.”

“Yeah, you do. Like that time in Year 6 when there was that stupid family dinner, and you told me I didn’t need to come with you, and then you ended up running away. Or the time in Year 4 when you tried to go a whole day without drinking water as a dare from Lizzie and you had to go to sick bay because you nearly passed out in class.”

Penelope didn’t have a retort for that, so she stayed silent.

Josie ran her thumb across the back of Penelope’s hand.

“Pen, I know that you really don’t want to tell me this, but why have you been hurting so bad?”

Penelope closed her eyes, and gathered up every ounce of courage as she tried to form the words in her head.

“Because I missed you. Because I have been trying to play a part this whole time, and I couldn’t do it. Because I’m a coward, and I broke the one good thing I had.” She moved her head, but Josie reached out and lifted her up. She met Penelope’s teary eyes, and smiled. 

“Don’t hide from me. I want to see all of you. I always did.”

“Did you? Because you didn’t always have the best way of showing it.”

Josie frowned and her beautiful brown eyes filled with confusion. 

“What are you talking about?” 

Penelope shifted, and Josie’s hand fell down by her side. Josie waited as Penelope finally found the words she’d always needed to say.

“You stopped talking to me as much. It felt like our relationship was just some side thing to you, like I didn’t matter at all. We were best friends, and suddenly I was just nothing. You didn’t care about my problems, and you didn’t trust me enough to tell me yours. Josie, I felt like nothing to you.” Penelope tried her best to convey all the pain in her heart. 

She wanted to talk about how Josie had stopped texting her, how Josie had stopped smiling at her as brightly.

Wanted to talk about how Penelope had felt like she was sinking, and no one was there for her, because the one person that she’d always depended on was suddenly gone. And she’d had no idea why.

Josie frowned and looked away. Penelope honestly didn’t know anything about Josie’s side. Didn’t know why she’d hurt Penelope like that, or if she’d even known. But she supposed that was what this talk was for. Discovering the truth.

“You weren’t nothing to me Pen. I loved you.” 

Penelope didn’t know how to describe the way her heart shattered at hearing the past tense. Even if that was the most selfish thing, she’d hoped that somehow, Josie still loved her.

“I know, but you can’t tell me that I’m wrong. Can you really look me in the eyes and tell me that you didn’t start pulling away, that you didn’t stop telling me things, that you weren’t preparing yourself for a collision that hadn’t even happened yet?”

Josie couldn’t look back at Penelope. She just sighed. 

Penelope shook her head in despair, “I just wanted to feel wanted Josie. What did I do?”

Josie shook her head, and when she spoke, Penelope nearly thought she’d imagined it.

“It wasn’t something that you did. I don’t even think I realised it, not consciously anyways, but deep down, you’re right. I did pull away.”

“Why?”

Josie shook her head again, “I…” she trailed off. Penelope sat up, feeling like she was going to break. She was so close, so close to knowing everything. 

“Josie please.” Her voice broke, but she didn’t even care, she needed to know so badly. 

“I was scared.”

Penelope blinked. 

“What?”

Josie finally looked up, and she looked at Penelope like she was expecting a war.

“Everyone loved you, everyone wanted you, and I couldn’t help but think that I wasn’t good enough for you. I couldn’t understand why you chose me. And you were going through so much, and I didn’t know how to help you, and it felt like you were going to break, and I was so scared that you’d finally realise that I wasn’t the person that you needed.” She sniffled.

Penelope could barely believe it. Josie thought that she wasn’t good enough…for Penelope? What parallel universe was Josie living in? Although, maybe she did have a point about Penelope being at the breaking point. But all Penelope had wanted was Josie.

“And Lizzie needed me, because exams were stressing her out, and for some reason she couldn’t go to Hope, and I thought I could just focus on being a good sister. But then she got into my head. I don’t think she even meant to. She just said something about how you were going to break my heart, that you were probably going to decide that you didn’t want me, because you’d never been with anyone for a long period of time, and she thought that you were going to get bored.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I couldn’t stop thinking about how she might be right, and it was so stupid, because you were my best friend, but I couldn’t stop thinking about all the people who you’d never cared about, and about how sometimes you got weird about showing affection, and it was just so much easier to just distance myself.”

Penelope rested her head on the post, and tilted her eyes to the ceiling. Josie let out a shaky breath.

“And then you broke up with me, and you told me that you didn’t think that you’d ever love me, and it felt like everything I’d ever thought was right, I thought that I wasn't good enough for you. You were the only person who’d bothered to even consider me as a first option, and suddenly you were gone.”

Penelope closed her eyes, realising just how truly they’d both fucked up.

“I’m so sorry Pen.”

Penelope shook her head.

“I’m sorry too Jojo. God, I’m so sorry, because I thought I knew everything, and I fucked us both over. I thought that you didn’t care anymore, that you wanted me gone. And then,” she swallowed, trying her best to not openly sob, “and then you told me that you loved me, and I couldn’t. I didn’t know how to let you love me, and I couldn’t say it back, so I took it as my way out. Fuck.” She wiped her own tears away with the back of her hand.

Both of them sat there, thinking about all that had been said, all the truths that had now been told. 

“What do we do?” Josie’s whisper barely made it past her lips, but Penelope heard it well enough. She didn’t really know.

“We can’t get back together,” she said, as calmly as she could. As much as it hurt her to say, it was the truth. Right now, there was just too much hurt, and they needed to learn how to be better for themselves first.

Josie squeezed her eyes shut, and Penelope suspected that it was purely to hide her own hurt, so Penelope reached out and stroked her fingers. When Josie didn’t immediately flinch back, she entwined their hands. 

“What I think we should do, is stay friends, but actually talk to each other. We have no business jumping into relationships right now. I have to work on my communication, and my fear of being loved, and my commitment issues, and probably a whole host of other things, and you…” she trailed off.

“I need to work on loving myself first. I need to work on understanding that my problems aren’t a burden and that people want to be with me. And like you said, probably a bunch of other things.” Josie laughed, but there was no real humour in it. Penelope understood.

Josie looked up at Penelope, “I’m still in love with you.”

To say that Penelope was shocked was an understatement. Especially since she’d just come to terms with believing that Josie didn’t love her anymore.

“You are?”

Josie nodded, “We’re talking to each other, and being honest right now, right?”

Penelope nodded, mouth still hanging open.

“Then you should know that I’m still in love with you. Which is stupid, I know, and selfish, because I literally had a girlfriend up until today, but I still love you.”

Penelope wanted to say it back, so badly. Wanted to be able to comfort Josie in the same way, make her understand that Penelope would give up her last breath so that Josie could live a moment longer.

But she couldn’t. Even hearing the words put terror in her heart, terror because once more there was so so much to lose, so much pain that Penelope could be right on the verge of, and she hated it. Hated that being loved by Josie was something she couldn’t accept.

“I…” Penelope looked down, feeling shame rising to her cheeks. 

“I understand if you don’t feel the same way.” Josie tried to move her hand away from Penelope but Penelope didn’t let go.

“No, Josie, I still-I still have feelings for you, okay? Like, every time I see you, my day gets better, and my heart beats out of my fucking chest, and sometimes I feel so much for you that I can’t fucking breathe. Josie, I want to say it, I really wish I could, but I—” she growled in frustration and threw her head between her knees.

Josie squeezed their entwined hands. 

“It’s okay. I know.” Her thumb ran across Penelope’s hand, and it somehow gave Penelope the strength to look up. 

“I think it’s because of my parents. When you grow up with your only example of love being two people who don’t even care about the other, it does something to you. My mother taught me that I was this selfish being, and that no one would ever love me, and that no one would want to be loved by me. I’m sorry, you deserve someone who can love you properly.”

Josie laughed gently, “I tried that. I guess I’m stuck with you.”

Penelope looked at her seriously, “Don’t wait for me to be better. If you fall out of love with me, don’t feel like you owe me anything. Me trying to be better isn’t enough reason for you to feel obligated into getting back with me.”

Josie looked back at her just as seriously, but there was still enough love in her eyes for Penelope to feel like she was home.

“Okay. But I think it’d be pretty hard to forget about the girl who taught me what love is in the first place.”

Penelope snorted, “You should get a better teacher. I don’t know anything.”

“Well, maybe we can learn together. We can be better together, and maybe we’ll end up on the same path again.”

Penelope smiled, “I think I’d like that.”

Josie squeezed her hand again, and then stood up.

“Come on. Let’s go watch one of those Netflix movies that you have a soft spot for.”

Penelope scoffed as she let herself get pulled up. 

“I do not.”

“Oh, you totally do. But don’t worry, I can keep a secret.”

Penelope laughed and followed Josie into her room feeling like for the first time in weeks, she was truly on her way to being happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I know a lot of you have been struggling with the Posie angst that I've been giving you, and that's pretty fair, there has been a lot of it. But, I promise you now, there will not be anymore angst for a while. That's right, I'm going to let them be happy for a bit!  
> Also, this fic hit 500 kudos! Thank you so much to everyone who left a kudos, you guys are the best!  
> The next chapter is another one that I think you guys will like. Specifically, those who enjoy Hizzie, because it will be from Hope's POV and it will be about what her and Lizzie are doing at the gala!  
> Until next time, enjoy the knowledge that while in canon Posie are not happy, in my story, they finally are happy(ish)!


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! First of all, I'm glad that so many of you enjoyed that last chapter, I've been excited about posting that one for a while! It's my birthday tomorrow, so consider this chapter as my present to you guys (yes I know that is not how birthdays technically work)! Now, it's time for some good old pining at a fancy gala with Hope and Lizzie!  
> Enjoy!

Hope couldn’t keep her eyes off of Lizzie. It was seriously a problem. 

Lizzie looked like a goddamn princess, like she was straight out of the movies they used to watch as kids. She’d always wanted to be one, and Hope still remembered her dressing up when they were little.

Hope also remembered always being the prince who saved the damsel in distress. And then when Lizzie realised that princesses didn’t always need to be the one getting saved, she was the prince who fought alongside the princess.

Josie had always been stuck as the princess’ lady in waiting, because Lizzie insisted, but Penelope would always make sure to give Josie as much attention as possible.

Thinking of Penelope, Hope was worried about her. She’d been so busy getting ready for the gala, that she hadn’t had a chance to text her. Maybe she could find a moment during the gala to check in, because something had definitely gone wrong when Penelope went home to get her script. 

If it had anything to do with her mother, Penelope would definitely need someone to be there for her.

But, right now, Hope couldn’t be that someone. Because Lizzie Forbes-Laughlin was sitting next to her in the car, wearing a beautiful blue dress that actually sparkled, and she was singing along to Taylor Swift. 

How could Hope even think about anything else when Lizzie was right there?

“You’re staring. Keep your eyes on the road or we’re going to die,” Lizzie told her, with just a hint of a grin.

Hope rolled her eyes, “Relax Liz, we’ll be alright. We’re basically already there.”

Lizzie tried to glare at Hope, but the excitement in her eyes ruined the effect. She looked back out the window, and Hope focused on driving. 

As she pulled into the spot where her father had told her to park, Lizzie spoke up again.

“You know, I didn’t think I would be coming this year.”

Hope looked over at her. 

“Yeah. I didn’t think you would be either.”

They both sat in silence, truly thinking about the time they spent apart, and all the hurt. Hope had thought about this night, had thought about maybe inviting Penelope, as she probably wouldn’t be going over to Josie like she usually did. But it wouldn’t be the same. 

Ever since she’d been going to these things properly, not just as the cute little kid who guests could look at and comment ‘my, how you’ve grown’, Lizzie had been by her side. They’d navigated the madness together, and it had been enchanting. Hope suspected that it had been these galas that had truly helped her fall in love with Lizzie.

All the inside jokes, and dances to stupid slow songs, and every moment that neither Penelope nor Josie would understand. These nights were theirs and nothing could take that away.

“I’m glad you’re here though. I wouldn’t want anyone else by my side,” Hope told her.

Lizzie looked at her, and smiled with just a touch of wonder in her eyes, like she couldn’t comprehend Hope wanting her there. As if she wasn’t the anchor that held Hope to this earth.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“I wouldn’t want to come if I didn’t get to spend the night with you,” Lizzie admitted, and Hope smiled at her, so brightly that it almost hurt. 

For a moment, they just smiled at each other. It could have passed for friendly, and then suddenly almost ten seconds had passed, and their smiles had faded into something just a little bit more intimate.

Hope didn’t want to end the moment, didn’t want to be the first to look away. To her, every moment spent in Lizzie’s eyes was a perfect one. 

Lizzie, of course, was the one to end the moment. Right before she looked away, Hope caught something in her eyes that was almost akin to uncertainty. Which was strange, because this was Lizzie, and she was never anything less than determined. 

Especially when it came to Hope. She had decided that Hope was good, and was worthy of being a friend, and when people picked on her for being quiet, or called her names for her family, Lizzie had fought to defend her. There had been no hesitation.

Lizzie only hesitated when it came to feelings, especially romantic ones. Which was why Hope must have mistaken the look in Lizzie’s eyes. Because Lizzie harboured absolutely no feelings for her.

And she could not forget that. No matter what moments had occurred in the past that might make her think that. 

Hope cleared her throat. “We should head in, or my father might come out and make a scene.” It may have been an excuse to get out of this car which was suddenly too small, but it wasn’t an exaggeration. Klaus Mikaelson was known for spectacle, and he would certainly make a scene if Hope wasn’t there on time for the big introductory speech.

The two girls stepped out of the car and headed into the mansion. The courtyard, which usually contained only a few people, probably Freya or Elijah doing some reading, was bustling with people and excitement. The decorations would be considered extravagant, if they weren’t the Mikaelsons. When it came to her family, Hope had learnt that there were no limits to how big you could go. 

She looked over to Lizzie to see that she was examining it all with an expression of awe. No matter how many times Lizzie came to these things, she’d always get so excited, like it was her first time.

Hope allowed herself a few seconds to just watch Lizzie.

“Hope! Your father is about to have an aneurysm, you need to come now,” her mother called out as she strode over. She looked at Lizzie and smiled. “Hey Lizzie. It’s so good to see you again. We just have to steal Hope from you for a second.”

Lizzie smiled, “That’s fine. As long as she comes back.”

Hope nodded, “Always.”

Her mother patted her shoulder after a few moments of Hope and Lizzie smiling at each other. They needed to stop doing that all the time, it was messing with Hope’s head. 

As she walked away, her mother leaned down to whisper in her ear, “So, you’re still in love with her?”

Hope groaned, “Can we not talk about this right now?”

Her mother laughed. 

“Sure, but we’ll be talking about it later. And every member of the family will be commenting on it.”

She had a point. Their family did not have a very good idea of boundaries.

Her father was waiting with the rest of the Mikaelson’s when Hayley and Hope arrived. He sighed.

“There you are. I thought you’d run off with your date.”

“Please, Lizzie likes these things more than I do.”

He laughed, and clapped a hand on her shoulder, “You look beautiful. It’s time to face the crowds.” He turned to Elijah and nodded. 

Hope looked at the rest of her family. Rebekah and Freya were currently discussing something with Keelin, all three of them smiling, and Kol was standing to the side with a glass of champagne. He caught her gaze and threw her a wink. She smiled. 

The family lined up on the balcony, and a spotlight fell upon them. The babble of voices of the courtyard dimmed to silence. 

Her father rose his glass and leant into the microphone.

“Good evening to all that are attending tonight, whether you be friends, associates, or merely acquaintances. We are honoured to welcome you to the 19th annual Mikaelson family gala!”

The crowd began to applaud and Hope hid a smile. The family hadn’t really gotten it’s shit together until after she was born, and she was pretty sure that the first few galas had been very hostile, and more than one fight started. Mostly because her father didn’t know how to be nice.

Apparently, having a child had helped him find his way in life, and then of course he’d finally gotten the courage to tell Camille, one of his friends who had stood by him in hard times, that he had feelings for her. 

Hope was just proud of him, proud of all of her family really. Even if it was hard sometimes, knowing that she was their legacy, and that the world was watching for when she became an adult, even now they were probably watching, she knew that she wouldn’t wish for another family. 

The Mikaelson’s were all about always and forever, loving each other through the hardest times. Hope found that there was something nice about knowing there would always be people on her side.

“…this year, we are honoured to have Kol, the prodigal brother returned to us.” There was a light shower of applause, and Hope saw Kol bow a little awkwardly. She got the vibe that he absolutely hated these things. Maybe that was one of the reasons why he’d been gone so long. 

She heard her father say her name, and realised that he’d been introducing the whole family. She smiled and did a little bow. The crowd seemed to love that, so she considered it a job well done. 

Her eyes searched the audience, which was mostly thrown into dark, but she was still able to find Lizzie. It wasn’t a surprise. Even if Lizzie wasn’t the most dazzling person in the crowd (which Hope was pretty sure was impossible), Hope’s eyes always found themselves drawn to Lizzie.

Hope couldn’t quite see, but she thought that Lizzie offered her a smile. 

“…of course, be a speech later in the night, but until then, I wish that you all relax, and enjoy our hospitality.” 

The crowd applauded again, and then lighting returned to normal. 

They stepped away from the mic. Kol was the first of the family to speak. 

“Well, this has been fun, but I’m going to see my date. No doubt she’ll be getting attacked by the maggots that you call associates.” He turned and swiftly walked away.

“Our brother always did have a way with words,” Elijah commented after a moment. 

Freya sighed, “You know he hates these things. I’m surprised that we were able to convince him to come.”

Rebekah flicked her hair behind her shoulder. 

“Please, I was the only one who did any convincing. He loves me.” 

None of them argued that point. Hope had learnt over the past few weeks that Kol and Rebekah had a sort of youngest siblings’ bond, and that she was the only one who could ever convince him to do things.

Klaus clapped his hands.

“Right well, I’m sure we all have things to do. Elijah, you and Hayley can go gallivant around the room. I’m sure there are plenty of people who weren’t here last year to congratulate you on the marriage.”

Hayley rolled her eyes and walked over to kiss Hope on the head. 

“Enjoy the night. I’ll be coming over to embarrass you in about an hour.”

Hope sighed, but knew that there was nothing she could do to dissuade her mother. Hayley linked her arm with Elijah and walked off.

Freya and Keelin made a similar exit, except Freya was using her arms to hold onto baby Hnery, who was basically their ticket to leaving the event early. 

Klaus turned to Rebekah, “Do you have a date tonight dear sister?”

She blushed, and Hope thought of what her aunt had told her about Marcel Gerard, one of her father’s associates, who she’d been getting close with. She assumed that was a ‘secret’ secret, so she stayed quiet.

Her aunt blushed, “Not tonight Nik, but I’m sure plenty of the men will be begging for me to be theirs.”

Her father chuckled, “Well, best not leave them waiting.” 

Once she’d left, he turned to Hope.

“So, my littlest wolf,” he chuckled at the old nickname. He’d started calling her that, because apparently her mother had somehow earned the nickname little wolf, and so, Hope was the littlest wolf. It had meant to be just a stupid childhood nickname, but he still used it from time to time.

“I’m assuming young Miss Forbes-Laughlin is your date tonight?” He didn’t have to hide his smile. Everyone in her family knew about her poorly concealed feelings for Lizzie, and they all supported it. Her father had also never been quiet about thinking that Lizzie was his favourite out of her friends.

He’d never said why, but Hope suspected that he thought Lizzie was good for her, and he liked that Lizzie wasn’t scared of him. 

“Yeah, she’s my date. And, as you know, very impatient, so I should probably get back to her.”

Her father chuckled again, “Right. Well, I’ll let you go. Much like your mother, I will be showing up to embarrass you at a later time. I should be finding my darling fiancée; she’ll be wanting to announce her engagement to everyone that we can.”

She grinned, and let him kiss her forehead, before all but running off to go find Lizzie. 

Lizzie was standing by the drinks table, holding a champagne flute and staring pensively into the distance. Hope stood for a moment, just watching her. 

God, she was so beautiful. 

“You know, last time I checked, you weren’t twenty-one,” Hope told Lizzie, as she walked up behind her. Lizzie jumped, just a little, and Hope saw goose bumps run across her arms.

“Last time I checked; you didn’t really care about the legal drinking age. Remember Raf’s party last year?” The moment that the words left Lizzie’s mouth, her eyes widened, and she looked away, blushing.

“Sorry, I probably shouldn’t bring that up.”

Hope’s heart was racing way too fast and she almost couldn’t breathe. That party was one that she would always remember. It was also probably the one that had revealed to Lizzie how Hope had truly felt.

God, she’d been so stupid.

Hope couldn’t show any of that though, so she just shrugged. 

“I don’t really care about that. We were just dumb and a bit drunk, we both know it didn’t mean anything.” If only Lizzie knew how much it had truly meant to Hope.

“Right,” Lizzie said, but she still looked unsure, so Hope decided to make a joke, just to hear her laugh.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure there won’t be anything like that at this party. Although my dad would find the concept very amusing.” 

Lizzie laughed, and Hope let her heart run wild at the sound. Their eyes met and Lizzie blushed.

“Stop looking at me like that.”

Hope frowned, nerves sneaking into her stomach.

“Looking at you like what?”

Lizzie paused, the words she clearly meant to say resting on her tongue, but it seemed that she decided not to say them. 

Hope nodded, knowing that it was probably in her best interest that Lizzie didn’t say whatever it was.

“Come on. My mum will want to talk to us.” 

Lizzie looped her arm through Hope’s, and the two of them made their way across the courtyard.

+++

The night passed without much incident. Hope tried to avoid all of her mother and father’s knowing looks whenever her and Lizzie were together, and focused on not making a fool of herself.

She watched the rest of her family, only interacting with them from time to time. Freya and Keelin, as predicted, left early to put Henry to sleep. They’d never really been big on the parties, and Hope was almost jealous of them.

Except, being here with Lizzie? Well, she wouldn’t trade that for anything. 

She saw Kol and Davina a few times, but tried her best to avoid them. Davina literally was a teacher at her school, and even though Hope didn’t have her for anything, it was still a little weird. Besides, they seemed to be in their own little world. Hope saw them dancing at one point, and noted that they both looked very happy. 

Rebekah, as Hope predicted, was seen with Marcel much throughout the night. Marcel had always treated Hope as one of the grownups, even when she was a kid, and her father trusted him, so she hoped that whatever they had worked out. He looked at her aunt like she was the only one in the room, and she looked at him like he was happiness itself.

Hope wondered if she looked at Lizzie like that.

Lizzie of course, enjoyed drinking the champagne, and eating the fancy food, and her and Hope talked and joked the night away. A few times, people that Hope barely knew came up to her, wanting to talk about the legacy of the family, or to simply remark on how grownup she looked. Hope navigated those conversations with all the grace and skill that she’d had to learn from a young age.

After one such conversation, with a man who Hope didn’t even remember the name of, Lizzie turned to her with a laugh.

“Well he was kind of creepy.”

“Totally. I swear some of these people are more interested in my life than I am.”

Lizzie laughed again, and Hope, a little bit drunk on that sound and the champagne, extended her hand to Lizzie.

Lizzie looked down at it and rose an eyebrow.

“Do you want a high five or something?”

“Dance with me.”

Lizzie’s eyes widened, and she looked down at Hope’s hand, as if somehow this one dance would irreversibly change her life. 

Hope just wanted to dance with the girl she loved, and pretend for a moment that she was loved back. So, she stayed and waited.

Lizzie took her hand, and smiled at Hope, a smile so gentle and full of care that Hope had to look away. 

The moved onto the dance floor, and Hope’s hand settled on Lizzie’s waist. Lizzie’s hand fell to her own, and for a moment they didn’t move, they just embraced the feeling. Hope wondered if Lizzie too felt like her skin was burning with the heat of a lightning strike.

The music changed, to a classical song that Hope couldn’t quite put her finger on, Bach perhaps, and they slowly began to move. 

They moved in perfect sync, the way that always had. Ever since they were children, they had always known exactly how to move around each other, exactly what to do, how to back the other up. No one wanted to be in a fight against the two of them, they were an indestructible force. Hope still remembered them tearing Connor to shreds last year after he made a comment about women needing to focus on looking pretty instead of thinking.

She smiled at the memory, at the way that he’d gotten so pissed off, and how the teacher had sent them out of the classroom for being disruptive. They had stood outside, for a moment fuming about how they shouldn’t have been sent out, and then they’d made eye contact and just started laughing. 

“What are you smiling about?” Lizzie asked. 

“You remember the day when we got sent out of class for arguing with Connor?”

Lizzie nodded, “That was so worth the detention we got. He was being a bitch.”

“Totally.”

Lizzie smiled and they changed direction, gliding across the courtyard with grace. 

“We make a good team, don’t we?” 

Hope grinned, “We make the best team.”

Lizzie nodded, and then her eyes turned to a random point in the room, as if she was thinking about something. Hope squeezed their entwined hand.

“What are you thinking about?”

Lizzie chewed her lip, and looked back at Hope.

“What do you think we’d be like if we’d never met? If in Kindergarten, we hadn’t decided to become friends?”

Hope had thought about this many times, especially during the summer, had wondered if there was any part of her story that she’d like to change. But she’d always come to the same conclusion.

“I don’t think it matters.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, if I’d never met you, I wouldn’t be me. And if I had met you, and had just decided to not befriend you, I’d be completely different.”

Lizzie rose an eyebrow, “So, who would you be?”

Hope laughed, “I’d be someone who pushed everyone away. I’d be someone who felt very lonely and lost in the world, who latched onto the first affection I got shown, and that would probably go terribly. But I think I’d find my way to you in the end. It might take years, maybe we’d go through a period where I hated you, or you hated me, but I don’t think there’s a universe where I wouldn’t find you. And once I found you, I’d learn to be better. I would change for the better.”

Lizzie’s eyes met Hope’s, and Hope saw that they were glistening with unshed tears. She blushed. 

“That’s how I like to look at it anyways.”

Lizzie nodded, still looking breathless. 

“I think you’re right. I don’t want to know who I am without you. I tried being without you, and it sucked.”

Hope laughed, “Right, I guess I wasn’t the only one who had a difficult summer.”

Lizzie laughed wryly, “No, you were not. I could barely go anywhere, because every time I did, I’d just think about all the times I’d been there with you. I had to remake my room, because I’d look at a poster and hear you making a joke about it, or I’d see you picking at the threads on the carpet. You’re such a big part of my life, and I feel like in a way you complete me."

It was Hope’s turn to be breathless. 

“Really?”

Lizzie nodded, biting her lip.

“Yeah. You’re my anchor. Whenever I go spinning off, or my mind is being a bitch, you were the one who’d pull me back, you’d be the one who made it better. And I’m lucky to have you. I never want to lose you like that again. Not having you by my side broke my heart.”

Hope nodded, “You won’t lose me again. I’ll be yours, always and forever.”

Lizzie’s mouth dropped open a little, and Hope felt her own heart skip a beat. She’d basically just insinuated that Lizzie was family. Surely, Lizzie would interpret that as platonic.

Hope found that she didn’t regret saying it, because it was true. She was Lizzie’s, even if Lizzie wasn’t hers, and she was willing to waste forever by her side, without the promise of anything more than a smile.

Lizzie didn’t recoil as Hope feared, didn’t ask if Hope meant it to sound so intimate. She just kept holding onto Hope, like she really was the anchor that she described. 

They swayed to the music, soft violins in the background. 

Just for a moment, Hope swore that Lizzie was looking down at her lips, that Lizzie had leaned in just a little closer. 

Just for a moment, she felt the magnetic pull that Lizzie always had, and felt herself leaning in as well.

“Hope, it’s time for speeches, you and Miss Forbes-Laughlin should make your way to a table.”

Hope pulled back, feeling red rising to her cheeks, to see her dad, watching the two of them with a small smile. Hope wanted to be mad at him for interrupting that, but to be fair, she had no idea what that even was, so maybe it was for the best.

Lizzie’s hand was still in hers though. That was something at least.

She tugged on Lizzie’s hand.

“Come on, let’s go sit down.”

Lizzie’s face was a little bit redder than it usually was, but Hope put that down to the close contact and the physical activity. After all, Lizzie had no reason to be embarrassed. She didn’t like Hope like that.

They sat at the table, and Hope found no need to let go of Lizzie’s hand. And for some reason, one which Hope was very thankful for, neither did Lizzie.

+++

The gala died down about one in the morning, and so Hope and Lizzie made their exit. Most of the Mikaelsons and close friends would stay in the courtyard, telling stories and laughing over alcohol. 

Hope sometimes liked to stay and listen, but tonight she decided that she wanted nothing more than to head back to her room, and be alone with Lizzie. While Lizzie had the ability to fill her lungs with fire, and to make her feel more alive than she thought was ordinary, she also had the ability to calm Hope down, to make her feel safe and relaxed.

And right now, she just needed a moment of peace. Hope really hated crowds and hated people. Lizzie understood though, and so she was the one who motioned for them to head upstairs.

They got to Hope’s room, and started getting ready for bed. Lizzie had left pyjamas at Hope’s house the last time she’d been here, which had been months ago, so she got dressed into those in the bathroom. 

They brushed their teeth in silence, and then finally approached the bed.

They’d always slept in the same bed, ever since they were little kids. Hope’s family, and Lizzie’s too, had so many photos of Hope and Lizzie wrapped in each other, sleeping soundly.

Hope looked up at Lizzie, trying to see if she would still be okay with that. Maybe Lizzie still had worries about Hope liking her, and felt uncomfortable in a bed with her, like Hope was going to do something.

Hope wouldn’t though, because she’d had a crush on Lizzie for like three years now, probably more, if you counted the years she’d been repressed, and she hadn’t done anything when they slept in the same bed. Hope just wanted to sleep, and maybe cuddle with the girl who made her feel safe. 

But if Lizzie didn’t want that, Hope would respect it, and she could get Lizzie to sleep in one of the millions of guest rooms they had lying around.

“So, um, do you want to sleep here?” Hope asked, nervously, after not finding anything defining in Lizzie’s face.

Lizzie frowned, “Yeah, duh, where else would I want to sleep?”

Hope shook her head, blushing, “I don’t know, I was just checking.”

Lizzie snorted, “I don’t know why; you know I’ll always sleep with you.”

Well, that was a bad choice of words because now Hope was imagining things that she should not be imagining when it came to her best friend.

Lizzie’s eyes widened and she made a couple of spluttering noises that were probably supposed to be a clarification. Hope just nodded rapidly.

“Let’s go to sleep,” she suggested, her voice several octaves higher than normal.

Lizzie nodded as well, and they both slid in.

For a moment, they just stayed separate, not touching at all. Hope desperately wanted to, but now it felt like there were all these boundaries that she didn’t even know about. It was probably her own overthinking, but still.

And then, Lizzie reached out and linked their pinkies. Hope tried to make the hitch in her breath less audible.

When Lizzie noticed that Hope wasn’t rejecting the move, she slowly joined their hands. Hope made the next move, and tugged on their hands, silently begging Lizzie to move just a little bit closer.

She did, and suddenly, Hope’s front was pressed into her back, their joined hands lying on Lizzie’s stomach.

“Hey,” Hope whispered.

“Hey,” Lizzie whispered back.

The silence waited on them to continue speaking. There was so much that could be said, but Hope knew that she couldn’t say any of it. Couldn’t break this fragile thing. 

So, she settled for something safe. 

“I had a really nice night with you.”

Lizzie laughed, “You hate these things; you don’t need to lie.”

“I’m not lying. I may hate these things, but every moment spent with you makes everything better. If I have you by my side, I think I could do anything.”

Lizzie was silent, and Hope wasn’t sure if they were at the part of the night where she had to check to see if she’d fallen asleep.

“Yeah, I feel the same. I had a really nice night too.”

Hope waited for her to say something else, but there was nothing but silence, so, she decided that this wasn’t one of the nights where they’d stay awake mumbling secrets to each other, talking shit about the bitches in their grade. 

Maybe this was to be nothing more than a night of silence, of words left unsaid.

And maybe, just for now, Hope could be okay with that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic may be mainly Posie, but I really do love writing Hizzie! Also, can you tell that I've watched The Originals and got way too attached to the Mikaelson family from how I decided to just have all of them being happy in this fic?  
> The next chapter is back in Josie's POV and we get to see the next day, and how everyone reacts to the new Posie development!  
> When Hope and Lizzie dance, the song I imagine them dancing to is Air on a G String by Bach, just in case any of you wanted to know!  
> Until next time, have a great day, and remember to take care of yourselves!


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Thanks for all the birthday wishes last chapter!   
> This chapter, as promised, is Josie's POV of what happens after her and Penelope make up!  
> Enjoy!

When Josie first woke up that morning, she didn’t remember anything. Her first thoughts were that today was just a normal day, and that nothing extraordinary had happened last night.

And then she became aware of the warmth in her bed that didn’t belong to her, and she remembered.

Remembered Penelope’s broken eyes, the way she’d sobbed into Josie’s arms. 

Remembered Penelope’s lips against her own, the kiss that Josie had been longing for, the one that she couldn’t have.

Remembered the explanation from Penelope’s lips, the apology, remembered feeling forgiveness in her heart when she’d finally understood. 

She finally understood why Penelope did everything she did. 

Maybe Penelope had been stupid, but to be fair, Josie had been so stupid too. She shouldn’t have pushed Penelope away in the first place, shouldn’t have told herself that Penelope would want to leave her.

She didn't intend to make those mistakes again.

They’d watched some dumb movies together, and Josie found herself laughing till she cried over Penelope’s hilarious imitations of the main characters. 

Penelope had decided that they should just listen to some music and chill, because she was pretty exhausted, and they both had school the next day, so they did.

Josie wasn’t sure when she’d fallen asleep, but it had to be late, judging by the way that her body ached at the idea of opening her eyes.

She finally pried her eyelids open, and found Penelope lying next to her, curled in a ball. Usually Josie was the little spoon, but she figured that Penelope deserved it. She’d had a pretty shitty day.

She took a moment to just drink in the other girl. They hadn’t often got to fall asleep in the same bed once they’d started dating, Josie’s mums had been very against it, saying that it was the house rules that Penelope slept in the guest room. But, on rare occasions, Penelope would sneak in, and they’d fall asleep, after whispering to each other for the better part of the night.

This felt just like one of those rare occasions, and Josie’s heart suddenly felt the way she knew it should have been feeling when she was with Jade. There was just something about Penelope that made Josie feel whole.

While Josie waited for Penelope to wake up, she thought about how they were going to get to school. Josie’s mums would be getting back soon, and they’d want to check in with her. Hope and Lizzie would change at and go to school from Hope’s place, so Josie wouldn’t have to do that talk with Lizzie just yet.

It would be soon though. Josie needed to do things differently to how she’d done them last time, she needed to tell Lizzie to respect Josie’s wishes, and she needed to tell Lizzie that Penelope was going to be a priority.

Josie knew that she had to work on herself, had to get confidence, had to learn how to put herself first, had to start believing that she was worth good things, that she wasn’t just Lizzie’s shadow, or the girl that no one cared about. But it wasn’t just her own self worth issues that had messed her up. She also needed to put Penelope first, to show her that she wanted to stay.

Josie knew Penelope, and especially after their talk last night, she knew that all Penelope really wanted was for someone to stick with her when things got bad. Josie couldn’t just tell her that she loved her, she needed to show it. And she also needed to be respectful of the fact that Penelope couldn’t say it back.

Although, Josie knew at least that Penelope wanted to say it back. She smiled when she thought of how Penelope had admitted to still having feelings for Josie, the way she’d spoken like the words had been trapped inside for years, and were now finally bursting free. 

It felt good to know that she wasn’t the only one lost in love.

A knock at the door startled Josie out of her thoughts and admiration of the girl in front of her, and she snapped her head to the door.

Caroline pushed the door open and peaked inside. She smiled at Josie, and opened her mouth, presumably to greet her, and then her gaze fell upon Penelope, and she frowned.

“Is that Penelope?” 

Josie nodded, “Yes, and I know I should have let you know that she was staying over, but I can explain it all. Don’t worry, nothing happened.”

Caroline’s frown lifted slightly.

“I’m not worried about you, I know you wouldn’t do anything you didn’t want to, and you’re not stupid. I’m worried about her, is she okay?”

Josie opened her mouth to answer, when Penelope stirred and lifted her head, groaning softly.

“Jojo?”

Josie’s heart melted at Penelope’s sleepy voice, and how the first thing she called out for was Josie. 

Penelope saw Josie and smiled.

“Hey.”

Josie couldn’t help but smile back.

“Hey Pen.” She would have loved to stare at Penelope all morning, but she remembered that her mother was still in the room, and she inclined her head to let Penelope know that they weren’t alone. 

Penelope turned to look, and physically jumped.

“Mrs Forbes-Laughlin, I’m so sorry, nothing happened, I asked Josie if I could stay over, and she said yes, I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.”

Josie rested a comforting hand on Penelope’s arm, rubbing up and down in an effort to calm her down.

“It’s okay Pen,” she whispered softly.

“Josie’s right, it’s alright. I wish you would have told me, but as long as I get an explanation, it’s fine.” 

Penelope opened her mouth, probably to explain, but Josie’s mother waved her off.

“Not right now, don’t worry, Josie can tell me later. Right now, you guys just get ready, I’ll let my wife know that she needs to make another serving of breakfast.” She gave them both a smile, and then closed the door, but not fully.

Penelope groaned and dropped back onto the pillow, rubbing her eyes with her palms.

“Is your mum mad? I can never tell with her.”

Josie chuckled, “No, I think she’s probably excited. They love you.”

Penelope pulled her hands away from her face so that Josie could see her raising her eyebrow.

“I broke your heart and they still love me?”

Josie shoved at Penelope playfully.

“They knew you for ten years, they were almost more upset about you leaving than I was.”

“Almost?” Penelope’s eyes searched Josie’s, as if she needed reassurance that Josie had been upset when Penelope left. As if somehow, she was still scared that she was nothing to Josie. Josie knew that very thought definitely lived in Penelope’s head, so she pulled her close and smiled.

“The day you left me was one of the worst days of my life. I don’t think anyone could have been more upset.”

Penelope nodded, her eyes filling with regret, “I’m sorry.”

“I know. And it’s okay.”

“How is it okay?” Penelope sounded like she genuinely thought there wasn’t an answer. Josie just kept smiling.

“It’s okay, because you came back to me, and I intend to give you as many reasons as possible to stay.”

Penelope’s mouth fell open, and Josie laughed.

“What, you weren’t expecting that?”

“More I’m just surprised that you’re still putting up with me after everything.”

“What are friends for?” Josie partially wanted to slap herself for saying it, but part of her was glad that she did. She needed to remind her, and Penelope, that they were just friends right now. They were taking it slow, and there was not going to be a relationship involved.

Even if they just woke up in the same bed.

Penelope nodded.

“Right, friends. Sorry.”

Josie frowned, “Why are you apologising? You didn’t do anything.”

Penelope blushed, “Guess it’s just force of habit.”

Josie thought of all that Penelope probably believed she had to apologise for, and her heart broke. Once, she would have had Penelope apologising for forever, would have blamed her for everything that had ever gone wrong. Now, she knew that Penelope had been suffering along with her, that Penelope regretted what she had done. Now, she understood.

“Well, you should probably let go of that habit, because as far as I’m concerned, you don’t have anything left to apologise for.”

Penelope smiled, and Josie smiled back.

“Now, come on. We need to get out, or my mums will be convinced that we’re violating each other.”

Penelope chuckled as Josie pulled herself out of bed, “If we weren’t taking it slow, I’d make a joke.”

“Oh, I know you would. Now get up.”

+++

Josie and Penelope got out of the car, both feeling rather strange. They’d both consumed an unhealthy amount of caffeine that morning, Josie more than Penelope, because Penelope was used to having a messed-up sleep schedule. She still hated the taste, but she really needed the kick to keep her up. 

But it wasn’t the exhaustion that made them feel strange. It was arriving to school together, it was standing on the campus, knowing that they were friends.

“Have you told Hope or Landon about this yet?” Josie asked. Penelope shook her head.

“Landon knows I was at yours last night, and he probably told Hope, but they don’t know anything past that. I have a lot that I need to fill them in on.”

Josie nodded, “You ready for this?”

Penelope grinned, “If I have you by my side, I’m ready for anything. Especially the look on your sisters face when she sees us together.”

“You’re such a shit stirrer.”

“I know darling.”

Josie quickly started walking, ducking her head, hoping to hide her blush at the use of the pet name. Penelope used to call her all manner of pet names, and every one got her heart racing like crazy. 

They both went to Josie’s locker together, as Lizzie had agreed to meet Josie there. Lizzie, unsurprisingly was with Hope when they got there. The two of them were standing just a little bit closer than usual, laughing at a joke meant only for the two of them.

Now that Josie was back to being friends with Penelope, she had to figure out a way to wing woman the two girls. Surely their joined brains could do it.

Hope was the first to look up, and her eyes practically fell out of her head when she saw them together. Lizzie noticed her reaction and turned around. Josie saw her physically double take, as if Penelope would somehow disappear when she looked back.

Lizzie marched over to them, and Hope followed quickly after.

“Josie, what the hell are you doing with Satan? Do you want an infectious disease?”

Josie would usually have just sighed, and moved on, but today she was ready to be brave.

“Her name’s Penelope, you know that, you were friends with her for ten years, and she’s with me because she stayed over last night and we came to school together.”

Lizzie didn’t answer, she just stared at Josie like Josie had just rebooted her brain with nothing but her words. Hope interjected.

“Are you guys friends now?” She sounded almost hopeful, and Josie wondered how much Hope knew of Penelope’s story. Surely, she had to know a fair amount of it. No wonder she’d hated hearing Josie talking shit about her.

“Yeah, we’re friends,” Josie answered, looking over at Penelope with a smile.

“Friends?” Lizzie sounded like she was going to have an aneurysm, right there, in the hallway. Josie sighed.

“Lizzie, can I speak to you privately?”

Lizzie nodded, and Josie could see her already formulating ten different rants about why this was a terrible idea. It was almost a shame that Josie was not going to listen to any of them.

Penelope gently touched Josie’s arm, and gave her a small smile of encouragement. Josie nodded, and turned to Lizzie, then walked past her, hoping her sister would follow.

They ended up in the drama room, which, thankfully, was empty.

Lizzie started speaking before Josie even had a chance to turn around.

“Josie, I know I said that Penelope and I talked, but are you sure that this is a good idea? And she stayed that night? Did something happen? I just think that it’s a te—”

“Lizzie, can I just speak without you interrupting?” Josie held up her hand, and fixed Lizzie with a serious glare.

Lizzie bit her lip and then nodded, folding her arms.

“Look, I know you don’t trust her, but last night, we talked. We talked about the breakup, and why it really happened, and she explained. I can’t tell you everything, because some of it is private to her, but just know that I forgive her and that I understand.”

Lizzie frowned, “What can you tell me?”

Josie sighed, “Basically, I used you as an excuse to hide from her because I thought that she was going to realise that I wasn’t good enough for her, and she thought that I didn’t want to be with her anymore and we both fucked ourselves over.”

Lizzie closed her eyes, probably to process what Josie had just told her. When she opened them, she fixed Josie with an incredulous look.

“So, you’re telling me that this whole time, she broke your heart because she thought you were going to break hers?”

“Yes.”

“You’re both such idiots. Now, what’s the situation? Did anything happen last night?”

Josie bit her lip.

“Oh my god something did happen. Please tell me that you didn’t have sex with her, that would be so stupid, and you’re smarter than that,” Lizzie’s eyes were wide, and Josie was half considering telling her that they did have sex, just to mess with her. But, she was just a bit too tired to deal with Lizzie shrieking at the top of her lungs, so she told the truth. 

“We didn’t have sex.”

“Good.”

Josie looked down at her feet when she spoke, “We did kiss though.”

“You kissed?”

“We agreed it was an accident.”

Lizzie snorted, “An accident is doing something that you didn’t want to do, and you have both wanted to kiss each other for like three months.”

“It was a mistake then. The point is, we’re going to be friends, and we’re going to work on rebuilding our friendship, and working on our own issues before we do anything like getting into another relationship.”

Lizzie nodded slowly, “But you think that a relationship could be possible again?”

Josie shrugged, “I don’t know, all I know is that I still love her, and that I’m willing to try again.”

Lizzie nodded again, “Okay. If you choose to get back with her, I’ll be supportive. I’ll be better than I was last time.”

Josie beamed at her sister. She had told herself that she didn’t need Lizzie’s approval, that she could do what she wanted, and that was still true, but it was still nice to know that Lizzie was going to be better.

Then she remembered something else she had wanted to ask of Lizzie.

“Actually, do you think you could talk to her? I know that you texted, but I also know that you guys still have a rocky relationship, and it would mean a lot to me if you tried to be better to each other.”

Lizzie frowned, “Do I have to? Penelope and I don’t really do serious conversations. The last time was an exception.”

Josie pouted, “Lizzie, please? It would be good for both of you.”

Lizzie looked at Josie for a moment, and then sighed. 

“Okay, fine, I’ll talk to her. But don’t expect any wonders.”

Josie grinned and quickly hugged Lizzie.

“Thank you so much.”

“Don’t thank me yet. Now, we should get to class.”

+++

That week was probably the best Josie had so far that year. Of course, there was the problem of Jade staring at her mournfully across every single room that they were in together. Somehow, it had been more endearing when Penelope had done it. 

But apart from the Jade problem, Josie had one major thing going for her. And that was Penelope. 

Josie didn’t think she’d truly realised just how present Penelope had been in her life until she’d been gone. And now that she was back, Penelope was everywhere, and Josie felt like she was drowning in an ocean of the other girl. 

If that was what drowning was like, Josie didn’t understand why people feared it so much. It seemed like a nice way to die. 

At first, Penelope was hesitant, which was to be expected. The magic of that night was gone, and now they were stranded in the real world. But they had the knowledge that the other was willing to fight, and so, they slowly moved forwards.

Penelope sat with her in classes, started making jokes like she used to. She texted Josie about homework, and then about the play, and then she was just texting Josie TikToks and posts from Instagram at 2 in the morning.

Hope was almost more excited about this development than Josie and Penelope were. She was annoyed at first that they were staying just friends, but when they explained it to her, she understood, and was supportive of their choice.

That didn’t stop her from teasing Josie, and probably Penelope as well, and making jokes about their heart eyes. She figured out that she couldn’t make those jokes to both of them at the same time, otherwise they’d just awkwardly move away from each other, but Hope would lean into Josie’s ear during class and make a joke that would result in Josie whacking her arm.

Lizzie seemed to have held up on her agreement, because her and Penelope were acting differently around each other. At first, they were tentative, like they weren’t sure how to act. Josie supposed that was fair. Their whole lives, they’d just insulted each other relentlessly, to the point where Hope and Josie would have to basically pull them apart. 

But they too seemed to fall back into the rhythm they usually had, just without the really hard-hitting jokes. Lizzie wasn’t commenting on Penelope’s family, or talking about how she was a terrible person, and Penelope wasn’t talking about how Lizzie was a black hole of time and energy. 

So, that was definitely an improvement.

It took Josie nearly two weeks to remember that they had Homecoming coming up. She only registered that fact on the Thursday, with Homecoming being the very next day.

She’d obviously planned to go with Jade, and be a sappy couple, but that was very much out the window. There was of course the option of asking Penelope, but when Josie thought about it, her brain just starting making siren noises, so she decided against it.

It came to Thursday afternoon and Josie was sitting with Hope and Lizzie as they watched Kol trying to direct the Getcha Head in the Game sequence, and Josie made the decision that she would not be attending Homecoming.

“I don’t think I’m going to go to Homecoming.”

Lizzie’s head snapped away from Hope quicker than Josie had ever seen Lizzie move.

“What?”

“I’m not feeling it this year, I think I might just hang out at home.”

Lizzie shook her head, “If you’re not going, I’m not going.”

Josie frowned, “Lizzie, you love Homecoming.”

Lizzie rolled her eyes, “I like parties. Homecoming is one of the lamest events. It’s only fun if you go with friends.”

“So, go with friends!”

“Not without you.”

Josie sighed, “Look, Lizzie, I know that you’re trying to be a better sister, but it’s fine, really, I can stay at home.”

Lizzie shook her head again. She leaned forwards and took Josie’s hand, looking her firmly in the eyes. 

“Josie, I don’t mind. I’d rather stay at home with you than stand in a gym listening to the terrible mix that they put on every year.”

Josie gave her sister a small smile. Lizzie did have a point, Homecoming wasn’t exactly the best thing in the world, and Josie didn’t even like social events in general. It was nice that Lizzie was trying to be better.

“Okay, we can stay at home then.”

“Or you guys can come with me and my aunts on a trip to the city,” Hope spoke up. 

Lizzie and Josie both turned to look at Hope, who shrugged.

“I was never gonna go to Homecoming, and so my aunts suggested that we go on a trip. If you guys wanted to come, I’m sure they’d be down with that.”

“Which aunts?”

“Freya and Rebekah.”

Lizzie turned to Josie with a grin.

“Do you want to do that?”

Josie nodded, actually feeling excited at that prospect. She loved hanging out with Hope’s aunts, especially Freya. Freya understood Josie really well sometimes.

“Sounds like a plan.”

Hope frowned, “Do you guys want to invite Penelope or…” she trailed off, looking mostly at Josie. 

Josie sighed. As much as she would like to hang out with Penelope, she didn’t think they were quite at that stage yet. Also, she kinda wanted to get advice from Freya and Rebekah on the Penelope situation, and that would be hard to do with Penelope there.

“It’s your call, I know you guys are tight, but maybe not this time?”

Hope nodded understandingly, “It’s okay, I know she’ll understand. I think her, Landon, and Kaleb have a plan for Homecoming anyway. Do you think you could be the one to tell her though?”

“Why?”

“Because she doesn’t know how to get mad at you, but she knows how to be mad at me.”

Josie rolled her eyes, “Fine.”

Hope grinned.

When rehearsal ended, Josie did what she’d been doing the past few days, and went over to Penelope. Today, Penelope seemed rather out of breath from all the dancing she’d been doing.

“Hey sports star. How goes the basketball?”

Penelope gave Josie a tired grin, “Well, I for one can think of a million better ways to be getting sweaty than this, that’s for sure.”

Josie kicked Penelope’s leg gently, “You have such a dirty mind.”

“Hey, I was talking about yoga, you’re the one with the dirty mind.”

Josie rolled her eyes, “Sure, I’ll believe that for now.”

Penelope laughed, “So, as I was being tortured by our dear Milton, I noticed you talking with Hope and Lizzie, seemed kinda important. What’s up?”

Josie sighed, “You can read conversations too well. It’s scary.”

“It’s a talent, and stop avoiding. I’m a big girl, you can tell me. Unless it’s private, in which case, I respect that.”

Josie shook her head, and told her heart to stop swooning at Penelope doing the bare minimum. 

“We’re ditching Homecoming to hang out with Hope’s aunts.”

Penelope didn’t seem too shocked, “Ah, yeah I think Hope mentioned that to me. You and Lizzie?”

Josie nodded.

“Well, sorry to miss it. Landon needs me as backup.”

Josie rose an eyebrow, silently thankful that Penelope didn’t ask any questions about why she didn’t get an invite, because really, she didn’t know if she could come up with a reasonable explanation.

“What does Landon need backup for?”

Penelope grinned and stepped over to Josie’s side, and leaned in as she pointed to where Landon was talking by the piano with Ethan.

“Landon has a crush on Ethan and he’s planning on asking him to dance at Homecoming. I thought he should ask him as a date, but Landon’s a chicken. So, I’m going as moral support. And of course, to supply you with all the drama that inevitably occurs.”

Josie grinned, “Oh yeah, my favourite part of every social event, the gossip.”

“Of course, Jojo, the rumour mills would be nothing without you.”

Josie laughed, thinking about all the times that Penelope had filled her in on everything happening in the popular circles of the school. Apparently, in her classes, Penelope sat with the ‘cool kids’ and they talked to her, mostly because she managed to give of a similar energy to what they had. Josie had seen Penelope in popular mode many times before, and to be honest, it was kinda hot.

“And don’t fret, I’ll send you plenty of Homecoming pics. You’re gonna die when you see my dress.”

Josie made a noise of interest. Penelope usually liked wearing suits, or something with a cape attached. Penelope seemed to have a thing for capes, but Josie didn’t mind, because apparently, she also had a thing for them, especially when Penelope wore them.

“A dress?”

“I know, it’s off brand for me, but I saw this really nice blue and silver one in the shops over the summer, and I loved it. You’ll love it too.”

“I’m sure I will. I love everything that you wear.”

Penelope looked at Josie with a mischievous glint in her eyes and leaned in so that Josie could feel her breath hitting her ear when Penelope spoke. 

“And you love it when I wear nothing at all.”

For a moment, Josie felt like Penelope had short circuited her brain with those words. Then of course, her brain supplied her with some handy images to remind just what Penelope had looked like without any clothes.

Josie looked away, blushing furiously and spluttering a little.

“You can’t do that,” she mumbled, a little embarrassed at how easily Penelope had gotten under her skin there.

“Too far?”

Josie looked up to see that Penelope looked genuinely worried. 

“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” Penelope told her apologetically but Josie waved it away.

“No, no, you didn’t, it’s just um, well, my brain went very not PG for a moment, and I try to avoid having those thoughts in a school environment,” Josie explained.

Penelope’s worry slid away, replaced by a smug smile. It really said something about Penelope, that she could shift her worries and insecurities away under a grin so quickly. 

“If you want any more not PG thoughts, I’m only too happy to exist. For instance, I could remind you about that time when we discovered that a belt has many purposes.”

Josie was busy trying to shove that particular memory out of her head, when Lizzie appeared at her side.

“Penelope, stop violating my sisters mind, she looks traumatised.”

“More like she looks blessed.”

Hope sighed as she leaned on Penelope’s shoulder.

“Are you being an idiot again?”

“Me? Never.”

“Sure. And you never drank a whole bottle of vodka in an afternoon.”

Penelope flicked Hope’s ear.

“Piss off Mikaelson.”

Hope retaliated by punching Penelope’s shoulder, and so Penelope slapped her arm, which of course descended into the two just hitting each other.

“Children, please,” Lizzie said, giving Hope a light push away from Penelope. Josie noted with interest that Hope’s eyes widened at Lizzie’s tone and movement, and filed that away under ‘reasons why Hope is still bi for my sister’.

“Ladies, are we ready to leave,” Kol called out to them, twirling his keys around his finger. They realised that everyone else had left the room. 

“Yes, just give us a second Kol,” Hope replied, and gestured for them to grab their stuff. 

They all quickly left and walked out to the car park. Hope turned to Penelope.

“You going home this afternoon?”

Penelope nodded, “Yeah. Dad’ll starve without me there to make dinner.” Her face was stretched into a grimace that filled Josie’s heart with pain.

Josie knew well that Penelope’s home life had been going even worse recently. Her mother had left, two days after she’d arrived, but of course not without lecturing Penelope about not coming home, and being disrespectful. 

Josie had stayed on call with Penelope that whole night, trying to make her feel better, reminding her that she was more than what her mother saw.

Penelope’s father had slipped into somewhat of a depression ever since, and that left the brunt of work around the house to Penelope. She’d been cleaning, and doing the laundry, and making food for the two of them. Penelope constantly insisted to Josie that it was fine, that other people had it worse than she did, but Josie still worried about her. 

As if she could read Josie’s thoughts, Penelope turned to her and said, “Jojo, don’t worry about me. I’m a big girl, I can take care of myself.”

Josie didn’t let her pout leave her face, “You shouldn’t have to.”

Penelope shrugged, “It is what it is.” She turned to Hope, “Can I get a ride home?”

Hope nodded, “Yeah sure.” She turned to the twins, “I’ll let my aunts know that you guys are coming.” They nodded and she gave them a little wave, “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

Penelope beamed at Josie, “See you Jojo. And you too Lizzie.” 

The twins headed to their own car, and the moment that they got in, Lizzie turned to Josie.

“She’s so head over heels for you, it’s disgusting.”

Josie sighed, but a smile still found its way to her lips, “Shut up and drive Lizzie.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, it almost feels weird to be posting Posie being happy after all this time, but it's really fun to be writing their banter again!  
> In case you didn't hear, Taylor Swift just released another album, and believe me when I say that I am physically holding myself back from writing a bunch of Posie related one shots based off of the songs. But, this fic is my priority, so that will have to wait!  
> Next chapter is Penelope's POV, and one thing I can tell you about it is that we get to see the conversation her and Lizzie have where they mend bridges! Be excited for that!  
> Until next time, have a wonderful few days, and keep vibing!


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! As promised, here is a Penelope POV chapter, including a conversation with Lizzie, and a Homecoming that may be not as joyful as expected. But no spoilers!  
> Enjoy!

Who knew that having a breakdown about her parents would lead to Penelope being the happiest she had been in months? 

She was going to school every day with a smile on her face, because she knew that she’d get to see Josie, and not have her be hostile or awkward. It was like she was finally back at home after a long trip away. 

She’d told Hope and Landon everything that had gone down with her mother and with Josie. They’d both been so pissed at her mother for showing up, dropping the news and then just fucking off, but they’d understood that Penelope didn’t really want to talk about it in depth.

With Josie, well, things had been really good. They were almost back to the way their friendship had been before everything. They had their inside jokes, and they made references to things that had happened when they were kids, and they made each other laugh so hard that they couldn’t breathe.

It felt so fucking good to finally be in Josie’s presence again. Like Josie was some drug, and Penelope was on a high every time she saw her. Seeing Josie’s smile, directed at her, and having that smile being genuine? Penelope had never thought that she’d get that luxury again, and now she knew that she had to treasure every moment.

Being on good terms with Lizzie was surprising. Penelope and Lizzie had always had a strange rivalry, had always traded insults, and never talked about the hurt they caused each other.

So, imagine Penelope’s reaction when Lizzie had come up to her after rehearsals one day.

“Penelope.”

“Elizabeth,” Penelope greeted with a sarcastic smile. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“We need to talk.”

“You gonna break up with me?”

Lizzie glared at her. Penelope just rolled her eyes.

“I’m making a joke. Maybe you should get your sense of humour checked.”

“Penelope, seriously. We need to talk.”

Penelope slid her bag over her shoulder and looked up at Lizzie. She did look fairly serious. What Penelope just didn’t know was what the hell this was about.

“Okay, fine, let’s talk. But not here. Follow me.” Penelope led Lizzie outside of the drama room and to an empty corridor.

“Alright blonde Barbie. What’s up?”

Lizzie sighed and folded her arms.

“Look. You and I have always had our differences. And we never really talked about all the things we said about each other, but you hurt me with some of the things you said and I know I hurt you with some of the things I said. I didn’t really know if I should address it, but Josie asked me to talk to you, and as always, she’s right.”

Penelope frowned, “Are you saying you want us to have a big conversation where we acknowledge how we fucked each other over and then what? Try to be better?”

Lizzie nodded, “I’m trying to be a better person. To be less selfish. And I get the feeling that you want to be better too. If not for yourself, then for Josie.”

Lizzie, unfortunately, had a point. Talking with Lizzie about everything, and making things good between them would definitely make things better for her and Josie. Having one less person actively hating her would also be nice. Besides, she did have some stuff she knew she needed to apologise for.

“Okay. Let’s do this.”

Lizzie looked a little shocked, but she recovered quickly.

“Alright, so, uh, how do we do this?”

Penelope rolled her eyes, “This is your idea Forbes-Laughlin, you tell me.”

“Okay, fine. I’m sorry for being a bitch to you during your relationship with Josie. I’m sorry for being one of the causes of the two of you breaking up. And I’m sorry for all the bitchy things I said to you.”

Penelope nodded, “And I’m sorry for making jokes about you being crazy, or making jokes about how you were the problem twin. It was insensitive, and I shouldn’t have said that shit to you. I’m also sorry for blaming a lot of things on you that were really my fault.”

Lizzie nodded, “Right. Thanks.”

Penelope grinned and flicked her an awkward finger gun, “Right back at you.”

Lizzie shifted her arms, “So, now what?”

Penelope thought about it. They couldn’t just agree to not insult each other. The fun that there had been in their dynamic had come from there being someone who was willing to call Penelope out and to debate with her. They just needed to set a few boundaries.

She explained as much to Lizzie, who nodded slowly.

“Yeah, I agree. You were kind of fun to argue with.”

“I’m flattered. So, you wanna tell me any things that I need to avoid?”

Lizzie nodded, and thought for a moment. 

“Don’t make jokes about my mental health. Don’t be a bitch about things that happened in the past.” She bit her lip, and then quietly said, “Please don’t mention the whole thing about Hope and I.”

Penelope knew she should just leave it, but curiosity got the better of her.

“Why?”

Lizzie sighed and tightened her arms around herself, making sure to not look Penelope in the eye.

“It’s just…I’m still figuring some stuff out about that, and I feel like a shit person as it is for how I reacted back then, and I just…just for now, can you please not bring it up?”

Penelope nodded, wondering if maybe, Lizzie was finally realising that she had feelings for Hope. She wouldn’t mention it to Hope, partly because she wanted to respect Lizzie’s privacy, and partly because she didn’t want to give Hope false hope.

“Okay. If you ever want to talk about it with someone who isn’t Josie, I’m here. I’ll be blunt, and I swear I won’t tell Hope.”

Lizzie opened her mouth, probably to snarkily reject Penelope’s offer, but then she shut her mouth slowly, seeming to actually think about it.

“I might take you up on that,” she muttered reluctantly, and Penelope grinned.

“Excellent. So, no jokes about mental health, that’s fair, don’t bring up the past, clean slate, that’s fair, and don’t mention the Hope situation. I think I can manage that.”

Lizzie nodded, “Okay, now you tell me. What should I avoid?”

Penelope didn’t even need to think about it. She’d spent enough time in the past internalising Lizzie’s comments to know exactly which ones she wanted to avoid in the future.

“Don’t talk about my family. You know it’s messed up, and I’d really like to just not think about them. Don’t talk about me being a heartless bitch who doesn’t care about anyone, because it messes with my head. And don’t say things about how I’m not good enough for Josie.”

Lizzie looked surprised, “Can I ask some questions?”

Penelope nodded, “Sure, but I don’t owe you answers to all of them.”

“Did I really mess with your head?” 

Penelope sighed, “Yeah.”

“Why?”

“You know the whole ‘I’m Penelope Park, no one can touch me, I’m the baddest bitch’ thing?”

“Yes.”

“It’s a fucking act, because I am just layers of insecurities. I think you’d know a thing or two about that. That was the thing. You knew me, you’d known me since I was a kid, you knew the real me, and then you’d go and say things like that, like you believed them, and I thought that maybe it was true. Maybe Hope and Josie were just too scared of me to say anything, but maybe they thought it too. And maybe you were right, maybe I didn’t know how to care about anyone, and maybe I hurt everyone. It’s easy to believe insults when you were already thinking the things that you hear.”

Lizzie didn’t say anything for a long moment. 

Penelope blinked a couple of times to prevent the moisture building in her eyes from doing anything stupid like turning into tears. 

“I’m sorry. I know first hand how hard it is to pretend to be better than you think you are. I just said those things to you because I was being defensive, and because I was hurt. You have to know I didn’t believe it,” Lizzie told her, guilt clear in her eyes. 

Penelope didn’t say anything.

“Josie and Hope don’t believe it either. They know the real you.”

Penelope offered Lizzie a small thankful smile. 

“And even though I said shit about you not being good enough for Josie, I know that it doesn’t matter. You were the only one she ever wanted, and you made her happy.”

Penelope shook her head, “But I still wasn’t good enough for her. That’s why I need to be better. So I can finally be someone that she deserves.”

Lizzie rolled her eyes, “You may not be able to say the words, but you’re in love with my sister.”

Penelope paused, the words echoing in her head. How did they feel so right but so wrong? Loving Josie just felt right, it felt like the perfect way to describe the feelings in her chest. But hearing the words out loud sent terror straight to her core. Like love was something to fear, something that would wake her in her middle of the night, shaking and in a cold sweat.

“Lizzie?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you not say that either?” 

Lizzie opened her mouth, probably to ask why, but Penelope just held up a hand.

“Lizzie, it’s like you and Hope, it’s complicated, and I’m figuring it out, just please don’t say anything until then.”

Lizzie shut her mouth and nodded. 

“Okay, I think I can do that.” She held out her hand to Penelope. “Friends?”

Penelope grinned and took Lizzie’s hand. 

“Friends. Although I don’t know what’s possessing me to agree to this.”

“You’re whipped for Josie and you know it’d make her happy.”

Penelope smiled at the thought of Josie, “Yeah.”

Lizzie groaned, “Ugh, you’re gross. I’m going home. See you tomorrow Satan.” There was no bite or animosity behind the insult, and Penelope actually smiled.

“See you tomorrow.”

+++

After making up with Lizzie, life had gotten exponentially better. They could have conversations, her, Josie, Hope, and Lizzie. And it was fun, they’d banter, and mention things that only they’d remember, and it was almost perfect. 

Homecoming snuck up on them quicker than Penelope was expecting it to, and she was actually annoyed.

Homecoming had never really been Penelope’s favourite event. Being crammed in a hall with the whole school, drinking punch that would get spiked by a senior, and dancing to shit music was really not her idea of a fun night.

Contrary to popular belief, Penelope wasn’t all that into parties and social events. She just pretended to be for the status. She’d much rather to stay at home reading poetry, whilst listening to some of her ‘dumb indie music’ as Hope had dubbed it.

She knew that Josie shared her opinion, as the two of them had left many parties early to just go home and chill. Even when they were at parties together, the two of them, and usually Hope, would end up sitting in the quietest place, talking about weird stuff like aliens or what mystical creature they would be. 

Or getting high. Josie had only joined in with that particular activity once, and Penelope really wished she remembered that experience a little clearer, because from what she did remember, Josie had been adorable. 

Was Penelope annoyed that Hope was going to be ditching Homecoming to go hang out with her aunts and Josie and Lizzie? Yeah, a little, but she knew that Hope had been planning this for a while. Penelope had considered asking for an invite, but well, she guessed it was too late now.

Besides, the twins and Hope used to hang out without Penelope all the time. Penelope understood it, and yeah, maybe it hurt a little, but she understood it. And it wasn’t like they all secretly hated her.

Luckily, she wouldn’t be bored during Homecoming, because Landon had recruited her to his team to help him ask Ethan out. The team, was of course Rafael, Kaleb, MG, and now Penelope.

Penelope knew that none of those boys had any game at all, so she needed to come and support Landon. Surely just a night hanging out with the boys was what she needed to take her mind off of everything. 

Plus, it’d be hilarious seeing Landon being all awkward. 

Penelope stood in her bathroom, finishing off her makeup as a song that she didn’t remember the name of played through her phone speaker. The lighting would be shit, but Penelope still needed to look like a goddess. Even if Josie wasn’t there to see it.

Although, Josie definitely needed to see a picture or two. Penelope had promised that she’d text her once she was done. 

She looked at herself in the mirror, checking to make sure that she hadn’t messed up anywhere. 

Satisfied that she hadn’t messed up, she grabbed her phone and lifted it, trying to take the best picture for Josie. One that made her look hot, but didn’t quite cross the boundary of friends. 

Once she was sure that she’d taken a good picture, she grabbed her purse and headed downstairs. Her heart sunk as she saw her father lying on the couch, wearing what she was pretty sure were his pyjamas. 

“Dad?” She wasn’t really expecting a response, but she called out anyways. There was nothing. She stepped closer, just to make sure that there wasn’t anything seriously wrong with him. 

Upon inspection, she decided that he was just asleep. Like he always was these days. She sighed, and quickly scribbled a note onto a piece of paper she found lying on the table.

_I’ve left for Homecoming. I think there’s some leftover lasagna in the fridge for when you wake up._

_Penelope_

She dropped the piece of paper onto the table and headed outside, making sure to lock the door behind her, and slid the key under the plant where she always did.

Jed frowned at her when she got in.

“What took you so long?”

She rolled her eyes as she buckled her seat belt, “I had makeup to do Jedidiah.”

He rolled his eyes right back at her, and started the car.

“Surely it didn’t take that long.”

She knew that he wasn’t trying to indirectly ask about how her dad was doing. Jed’s mother was her father’s sister, and she was probably worried about him.

Penelope sighed, “Dad’s asleep on the couch. Ever since mum left for Chicago again, he’s been like this.”

Jed grimaced, “Do you want me to send my mum over? She might be able to help.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve been dealing with him and his moods since I was twelve. I’ll let you know if he starts drinking again though, I’m not making myself responsible for that.”

Jed nodded, “You’re seventeen Pen. You shouldn’t have to deal with any of this.”

“It could be worse.”

He shook his head and smiled sadly. 

“That’s what they all say.”

+++

Homecoming, as predicted, was badly lit, with loud music that Penelope was sure she’d heard on the radio yesterday, and it all smelled vaguely like sweat and shoes. 

Gross, really. 

Jed left her to go hang out with his friends, and Penelope found Landon sitting at a table with MG and Kaleb.

“There she is,” Kaleb greeted her with a grin, and took a sip of whatever was in his cup.

“Is that spiked?”

“Not yet.”

Penelope slid in next to Landon, and clapped a hand on his shoulder.

“How’s the hero doing?”

Landon had the sulkiest expression that she’d ever seen him with. It was worse than the time Hope had insulted his music taste, and that had been bad.

“He’s not here.”

Penelope shrugged, “The night’s still young. He said he was coming?”

“Yeah, but now he’s not texting me back.”

“I’m sure it’s fine, maybe there was a traffic incident.”

Landon shook his head and pointed across the room. 

“She’s here, but not him.”

Penelope looked to see where he was pointing, and saw Maya standing with Alyssa and Kym. She looked rather pretty, Penelope had to admit, but then she realised what Landon meant.

Maya was Ethan’s twin. If she was here, then he should be too.

Penelope turned back to Landon with a grimace. She really didn’t know what she could say to make it better.

“Do you want me to spike the punch and bring you some?”

He shook his head.

“No, it’s fine. I just thought that tonight was gonna be my chance. You know, my rom-com moment with the cute boy?”

Penelope knew what he meant, because she’d had plenty of those moments with Josie over the years. Every date they’d been on, the 2am drives, the late nights, the times they’d danced together in the living room.

Josie had been her perfect moment. Which was why she needed to fight for it. 

And it was why she knew that she couldn’t let Landon give up faith on getting his. 

“How about this; if he doesn’t turn up, you talk to him on Monday, and tell him you like him. If he dips, he’s not worth your time, and if he says he likes you back, then you will have plenty more chances for rom-com moments.”

Landon’s frown dissipated a little.

“I mean, that’s true, but Homecoming is supposed to be a big thing.”

Penelope shrugged, “Like I said, the night’s still young. Maybe you’ll find some joy in it after all. Until then, all you can do is be positive.”

Landon looked at her with a perplexed smile.

“Who are you, and what have you done with Penelope Park?”

“Yeah, you’re usually cynical as hell,” Kaleb added.

Penelope smiled, “Maybe I just found something worth being positive about.”

Landon and Kaleb groaned.

“Oh right, because you and Josie are back to your honeymoon stage.”

“We’re not dating, we’re taking it slow.”

MG chuckled, “Yeah, but you both still like each other, so it still kinda counts. Plus, you liked each other for at least two years of your actual friendship.”

Landon laughed, “Two? You’re being generous.”

Penelope snorted and cast her gaze back around the hall. Kol was standing near the punch bowl, looking very respectable in a suit, but he didn’t seem to be focused on his job. Instead, he was talking to Ms Claire with a grin. Hope had mentioned something about them going to the gala together. 

Whatever was going on between them, Penelope was happy for them. They were probably her two favourite teachers. 

She looked back to Maya, and her mood soured. Jade was standing next to her, and Maya was standing very close. Actually, was that her arm wrapped around Jade’s waist?

“What the hell is Jade doing with Maya?”

Kaleb looked over to them and sighed.

“We’ve been trying to figure that out for the past hour. I don’t think I’ve ever really seen them interacting before now.”

“They look awfully close considering that last time I checked; Jade got broken up with not even two weeks ago.”

Landon and Kaleb had both started frowning again. MG, who usually was a fairly positive guy even looked annoyed.

“I think it’s also a bit of a bitchy move if they are something that Maya’s the one who moved in. Because you know, she kinda hates Josie,” MG said.

Right. Maya had messed with Josie, and according to Josie, had stolen her phone to give to Jade. Who knew, maybe this had been her plan the whole time.

Whatever it was, Penelope decided that she was going to have to add another person to her list of those whom she disliked.

They moved on from that topic of conversation and started talking about assessments, and the musical.

Kaleb, MG, and Landon were all part of the stage crew, and they all complained about their workload. 

“Seriously Pen, this musical is on track to be a disaster. Something needs to click soon, because while some small parts are working, as a whole, there’s no flow. I feel so stressed for Kol, he's doing his best, but it's just a mess,” Kaleb commented.

Penelope nodded, “Yeah, Kol mentioned that. But it’s like this every year. There’s always that moment where everything falls into place, it’ll happen.”

Landon grinned, “Hopefully sooner than last year.”

Penelope laughed, thinking of how they’d had people storming out literally a week before they’d had to perform.

“Yeah, hopefully sooner.”

MG nodded, “Yeah, but at least you and Josie are pretty solid. You can feel the chemistry when you two are on stage. I almost wish you had more duets, because your voices work so well together.”

Penelope took a sip of her drink, unable to hide her smile.

“What can I say? Josie and I just complete each other.”

All the boys groaned.

“Hey guys, can we sit here?”

Penelope looked up to see Kym, Maya, Alyssa, Rafael, and Jade.

She would have loved to turn them away, but they had enough chairs, and MG opened his mouth before Penelope had a chance too.

“Yeah, sure.”

Penelope tried to subtly glare at him, but he was too busy smiling at Kym. Oh, so he had a crush on his best friend’s sister. She was definitely going to be bringing that up with Kaleb, and he would definitely have opinions.

Maya sat down next to Penelope, and Penelope knew in that moment that this was not going to end well.

“So, uh, how’s your night been?” MG was forcing way too much enthusiasm into his voice, and Penelope could physically feel the second hand embarrassment.

Kym starting talking but Penelope noticed that Landon was staring at Maya. She knew that he was just dying to ask about Ethan, but she also knew that he wouldn’t, so, she decided to put the poor guy out of his misery.

“So, where is your darling brother, I haven’t seen him here tonight?” 

Maya looked a little surprised that Penelope was talking to her, but she answered none the less.

“I came in a separate car. He had to help mum out with something, and he told me to go. Why?”

Penelope shrugged, but Landon interjected.

“So, he’s coming?”

Maya nodded, then narrowed her eyes. 

“You’re Landon, right?”

Landon nodded, “Why? Has he, uh, mentioned me?”

“Yeah, he said that you’re probably his favourite person at this school. Piece of advice, just ask him out, he’s the most oblivious person on the planet.”

Landon spluttered, probably trying to say something like ‘oh I’m not madly in love with your brother’, but eventually decided to just nod, and look away.

Penelope should have let the conversation die, but then she caught Jade’s eyes, and remembered how she’d seen them earlier.

“So, Maya, Jade, are you guys here together?”

Maya looked over at Jade and placed a hand over hers, laughing way too loudly for it to be real.

“Yeah, but it’s just a friends thing right now, we’re waiting to see where it goes.”

Jade nodded, and forced a smile. Penelope narrowed her eyes, but didn’t say anything more. She didn’t particularly feel like getting into another fight with Jade. 

The conversation around the table continued for a bit longer, and then Jade stood up to go get drinks. 

It was then that Penelope decided to bring her conversation with Maya back. Without Jade there, there was less chance of Penelope getting punched. 

“Maya? A piece of advice for you. Whatever you’re playing with Jade, stop it. We don’t need any more drama in the cast.”

Maya planted a sickly-sweet smile on her face.

“Really? Because as far as I can tell, you’ve been the main source of drama.”

Oh, so that was how she wanted to play it? Well, Penelope was nothing if not good at being a passive aggressive bitch. All those years of wearing a mask paid of occasionally.  
“Are you sure? Because I heard that you stole someone’s phone for the sole reason of getting under someone’s skin.”

“And that same person wanted you gone just a few weeks ago.”

Penelope rolled her eyes, “Okay, seriously, you’re getting on my nerves. What’s your problem new girl? You get here, you don’t get your way, so you decide to be a whiny little bitch about it and bring everyone down with you? It’s stupid, and I think that you’re just upset because no one likes you, and you’re not used to not getting your way.”

Maya moved back, and blinked, like she hadn’t been expecting Penelope’s words. Penelope really didn’t care if she was offended, the girl was asking for it.

Maya took a deep breath, and then the smile went back up on her face.

“You can think that all you want, but really? I’m not the one with a stupid problem. And honestly, I thought you were better than this.”

“What are you even talking about?”

Maya leaned forwards.

“I’m talking about how you’re getting mad at me, purely because you’re trying to defend a girl. It’s pathetic. I thought you were cool, but really you’re just a weak bitch who hides behind sarcasm to pretend that she’s not fucked up.”

Penelope rose an eyebrow, completely oblivious to the fact that the table around them had gone quiet.

“What did you just say to me?”

“You heard me. We all saw you when you turned up late. You said some shit about your mum coming back, and you had very obviously been crying.”

“Don’t talk about shit that you don’t understand.”

“What, did I touch a nerve? Boo hoo, why don’t you go cry about it to the girl who probably doesn’t even want you back.”

Maya didn’t know anything. Josie loved Penelope. She told her that. She wanted Penelope.

“Nothing to say? It’s because deep down, you know it’s true, and you know that no one wants you. If she really wanted you, she’d be here, wouldn’t she?” 

“Her not coming has nothing to do with me.”

“Right. So, she didn’t ditch with Lizzie and Hope, who I’m pretty sure are also meant to be your friends, and she just, what, didn’t give you an invite? Seems pretty suspicious to me.”

“It’s not your business.”

“It is if you’re being a bitch to me. But don’t worry about it. I’m sure that heartless bitch who’s hung up on a girl who wants nothing to do with her, is really attractive to someone out there.”

Penelope felt Landon reaching out to touch her arm, heard him say something, but she didn’t care. She’d spent too long in this shitty hall, with people that she couldn’t give less of a fuck about. Being positive couldn't get her through this, it felt like the walls were collapsing on her. 

“Fuck you,” Penelope muttered as she stood up. She turned and ran into Jade.

“Woah, watch where you’re going.”

Penelope didn’t even stop, “Bite me.” 

She walked until she was outside, standing in the cool air. 

Seriously? One argument and you’re getting all emotional? She’s right, who on earth would want you?

No. Maya was being a bitch. Josie cares about you. Her not coming has nothing to do with you.

Unless it did, and Penelope had read the whole thing wrong, and Josie was with Hope and Lizzie right now talking about how she’d felt pressured into being friends with Penelope, because of how much of a wreck Penelope had been that night.

Maybe Josie just pitied her. 

“You alright?”

Penelope looked up to see Ethan, wearing a suit and looking rather worried. She laughed humourlessly.

“Your sister is a bit of a bitch; I have to say.”

He frowned, “Did she say something to you?”

She waved her hand dismissively. 

“It doesn’t matter. I’m just sensitive, apparently.” She jerked her head towards the entrance. “Landon’s been waiting for you the whole night.”

His face lit up when he heard that.

“Really?”

“Yeah, he was worried that you weren’t gonna show up. You definitely owe him an explanation.”

Ethan nodded, “Don’t worry. The only reason I’m here is for him. I’ve been looking forward to this night for weeks, I’m not gonna mess it up now.”

Penelope smiled at him, and he smiled back, before heading in.

Well, at least Landon would be getting his rom-com moment. 

Penelope on the other hand, well, her night was pretty much ruined. And without a ride home, she’d have to be walking home in a dress.

She took a deep breath. Josie didn’t hate her, or pity her. All Penelope had to do was text her, and Josie would text back, telling her about her night. Everything would be okay, even if Penelope didn’t go back into that gym. 

Who even cared? it was Homecoming, and it looked like her work there was done anyways. 

She sighed. The night wasn’t getting any younger, she’d better start walking now. So, with a heavy heart, she headed off into the cold dark night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, Penelope's night won't end in sadness!   
> The next update will be in Josie's POV, and it will basically be what she's doing on Homecoming night!  
> Until then, have a fantastic day!


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! This chapter is basically Rebekah and Freya giving life advice and listening to gossip!  
> Enjoy!

Josie was happy with her decision to spend the night with Lizzie, Hope, and Hope’s aunts. Sure, she did feel bad for Penelope, who she knew hated Homecoming, and she had thought a few times about what it would be like it she went to Homecoming instead.

They’d complain about the noise, and Penelope would make a joke about how the teachers probably spent the whole night wishing for someone to spike the punch so they wouldn’t have to face the night sober. Penelope would ask Josie to dance, with that teasing grin on her face, and Josie would say yes.

It wouldn’t be the best night in the world, but it would be happy. And it would’ve been theirs. 

But Josie knew that a night like that would lead to her starting to doubt the plan of staying friends with Penelope. And she needed to remember that plan.

Sometimes, a little voice in her brain would ask her ‘surely you can just get into a relationship and work on yourselves at the same time, right?’ 

That type of thought was dangerous, because it was so addictive. 

So, as Josie sat in the backseat of Rebekah’s car, listening to the aunts asking Hope and Lizzie about their classes, she reminded herself why they couldn’t get back together yet.

The facts were simple. Last time, they’d gotten into a relationship, and it had gone terribly, because they’d forgotten all the things that made their original friendship so strong, and they’d gotten lost in oceans of self-doubt.

If they got into a relationship without fixing their issues, there was too high of a chance that they’d mess it up again. Penelope would draw into herself, and she’d convince herself that she wasn’t worth Josie. And Josie, well, Josie would tell herself that everything was fine, and that they were doing great.

But, if they re-learnt how to be friends, and they strengthened their bond first, took baby steps, and slowly put all the remaining pieces back together, then maybe, they could have a shot.

Josie had also made a promise to herself. If Penelope wasn’t ready to accept her love, and if she wasn’t ready to reciprocate, they shouldn’t get back together. If they got back together before then, she knew that Penelope would convince herself that she could just ignore it, and Josie would be loving a girl who pretended that love didn’t exist.

So, she’d wait. Even if Penelope had told her not to, Josie would wait. Unless all the love in her body dried to indifference, she’d wait. Because she truly believed that what her and Penelope had a chance at was worth waiting for.

“Josie? Please tell me that you’re not thinking about what I’m thinking about.”

Josie blinked and looked past Hope to look at Lizzie, who was staring at her with an eyebrow raised.

Freya chuckled, “I get the feeling she was thinking about whatever it is you don’t want her to be thinking about.”

Lizzie sighed and turned to look at Rebekah, “Ever since her and Penelope became friends again, it’s just been nothing but far away looks. Actually, even before. Seriously, she’s been doing this since the summer.”

Rebekah laughed, “Darling, Josie’s been thinking about Penelope ever since she was thirteen.”

“It was tolerable then.”

Josie reached out and kicked Lizzie, who made a noise of indignation, and kicked Josie back. This of course spiralled into them just kicking each other back and forth, and making noises of pain.

“Girls, seriously?” Freya looked back at them, trying to hide her smile.

Josie’s foot missed Lizzie and hit Hope’s ankle. Hope, up until then, had been watching the proceedings with a look of mild irritation. When Josie hit her, she sat upright and said,  
“Alright, I’m intervening. Stop kicking each other or I’ll pierce your noses with my pencil when we get back to school.”

Lizzie scoffed, “No you won’t. You’re way scared.”

Hope turned to Lizzie, and while Josie didn’t see Hope’s exact expression, there was something in her eyes that made Lizzie swallow and fall back against the seat.

“You are just like your father. I swear he once threatened to cut off someone’s ear because they spilt coffee on his jacket.”

“That sounds like him,” Hope responded, with just the hint of a satisfied smirk on her face. Say what you wanted about Hope, but she was a Mikaelson through and through. Josie had seen that countless times at school. 

Oh, there were so many people at school who were absolutely terrified of Hope, due to various threats which she had made over the years. Josie, of course, knew that Hope never really would, but she had a way of making you just a little bit uncertain.

Little Josie had found that very attractive. And maybe current Josie still found it just a little bit attractive as well.

Even if current Josie preferred Penelope’s version of that, where she simply made herself the most charming person in the room, to the point where if she told you to do something, you’d do it just to please her.

“Josie? We’re here,” Hope informed her, tapping her on the shoulder to shake her out of her thoughts.

Josie gave her a small smile of thanks and opened the door, stepping out into the cool night air. 

Rebekah had brought them to a small restaurant so they could have dinner before heading off to the shops, which was their plan for the night. The Mikaelson aunts had brought their credit cards and were ready to go on a spending spree.

The restaurant was one that they frequented, as it was the one that they went to whenever they were taken on a trip to the nearby city. Klaus had met Camille there, back she was working as a waitress, back when they were just teenagers and he had tipped her with a one-hundred-dollar bill. 

She’d thought he was a bit of a spoilt brat, but he’d charmed her into becoming his friend. After that, the Mikaelson family had started stopping by often, even after Camille stopped working there, as they liked the food. 

Josie and Lizzie’s first trip was when they were seven, and Klaus and Hayley had taken all of the girls, Penelope included, to the city. Josie still remembered how she’d struggled with the name, Rousseau’s, and how Lizzie had made fun of her.

They were taken to their usual table, and they sat down, looking at the menus as if they weren’t going to order exactly what they ordered every time. 

The waiter came by, and they all made their orders. Lizzie tried her best to convince Rebekah to let them have some of the wine that she’d ordered for herself and Freya, and Josie just sat back and watched with amusement.

“I’m eighteen in six months, that’s super close, and I won’t even have that much.”

Rebekah laughed, “Your mothers would kill me.”

“They wouldn’t know.”

“Mothers always know. It’s one of their more annoying qualities.”

Lizzie pouted and Hope laughed at her. 

“If it makes you feel better, the kids at Homecoming are probably getting drunk off of low-quality beer that has been added to the punch.”

Lizzie slapped Hope’s arm, “Stop trying to be funny Mikaelson.”

“Oh, is someone mad?”

Lizzie turned to Hope, and Josie turned to look at Freya and Rebekah. Both of them were watching Hope and Lizzie with knowing smirks on their faces. Josie didn’t think she’d ever get over the fact that Hope’s entire family probably knew about her crush on Lizzie.

“Girls, what do we say about bickering at dinner?” Rebekah didn’t look like she particularly wanted to stop them, but she did anyways.

Lizzie and Hope turned away from each other, and gave the adults their best innocent grins.

Josie just took a sip of her water and hoped that the whole night wasn’t like this.

Rebekah grinned at them.

“So, I didn’t bring all of you here for you to just sit in silence. From what Kol and Hope have let slip, it sounds like these first few weeks have been rather interesting.”

Josie thought that interesting was an understatement. With everything that was happening in the play, plus all of the relationship drama, it was a wonder that she was handing in assignments on time.

“Well, you already know about everything that happened between the three of us,” Hope said somewhat awkwardly. 

Rebekah nodded, “Yes and it sounded like a right mess. What about the play? Kol’s been rather tight-lipped about it, and I just know you have things to say.”

Lizzie perked up, always excited for a chance to gossip,

“Well, the play is currently awful, and this absolute bitch Alyssa Chang is dictating every move that the stage crew makes. It’s like she thinks she’s the director or something. Her costume ideas are awful, and—oh the other day, I saw her wearing a bright green sweater that I wanted to use for the play, one that she vetoed. She’s an animal, Kol should honestly get rid of her.” 

Hope placed a placating hand on Lizzie’s shoulder.

“Okay, so I’ll put you on homicide watch for the rest of the production. Good to know.”

“This isn’t a joke, she’s the actual devil.” 

Josie laughed as Lizzie continued to rant about all the backstage drama happening on the show. She was never one to care about petty gossip, so she pulled out her phone to check if any of her friends had made cringy posts about the dance yet. 

The first post on Instagram that she saw was posted by the ‘official’ Homecoming account, and it made her blood run cold. 

It was a picture of Jade and Maya, smiling at the camera, looking very cosy indeed.

So much for Jade wanting her back. 

“Josie? Why do you look like someone pissed in your water?” Lizzie peered over Josie’s shoulder, trying to see what she was looking at. Josie turned the screen to show Hope and Lizzie what she’d seen.

Lizzie gasped, “That bitch, I knew we couldn’t trust her.”

“Is this Alyssa?” Freya looked rather lost, so Josie decided it was now time to fill her in on her personal drama.

“No this is another problem.”

Freya and Rebekah both waited for Josie to expand. Josie cleared her throat.

“Okay, so over the summer, I met this girl Jade, and we started dating. Long story short, she did some shitty things because of jealousy, and we broke up. This other girl, Maya, has had it out for me ever since I beat her for the role of Gabriella. She helped Jade steal my phone, and now, they’ve both showed up to Homecoming together.” Josie turned her phone so that they could both see the picture.

There was silence for a moment, and when Josie saw the murderous expressions on both of their faces, she remembered that she hadn’t wanted to tell them because they’d probably murder Jade and Maya.

“One call and I can have their entire families bankrupt. Or I can set Elijah and Hayley on them, they can be vicious when they need to be.”

Josie shook her head, “No, that’s totally fine—”

“Are you sure? Because I am not kidding our family will kill for you,” Rebekah told her. Lizzie gave her an ‘I told you so’ look. Josie laughed nervously and shook her head.

“No, seriously. It’s my battle. I just hate that she was acting like the victim, and now she’s already with someone else, someone who she knew hated me.”

Freya shook her head, “Don’t worry about it. From what it sounds like, they deserve each other.”

Rebekah nodded in agreement and took a sip of her wine.

The waiter returned and laid down their meals. Josie looked down at her pasta and salad and smiled. Even if Jade was a bitch, at least Rousseau’s made amazing pasta.

“So, I have to ask. You said Jade was jealous, why was that?” Freya asked with a tilted head and a frown.

Lizzie spoke up, “Well, you know Penelope? It’s this whole mess really and—oh wait Josie, you can answer.” She gave Josie an apologetic smile. Josie smiled back. Lizzie often liked to dominate conversations, but it wasn’t often that she noticed and apologised for it.

“Yeah, it was about Penelope. You know we broke up over the summer, well, I still haven’t gotten over her, which is ridiculous really,” Josie said, feeling a little self-conscious about what they’d think about how smitten she was for a girl who broke her heart.

Freya smiled, “It’s not ridiculous. Love is often unexplainable and sometimes it annoys you so much, because you just feel like it should be logical, but it just isn’t. You can’t control your heart, so I wouldn’t feel ashamed.”

Josie smiled. Hearing those words, from someone who was grown up, and married, made her feel a bit better. It definitely made her feel like less of an idiot. 

“Well, these past few weeks, I’ve been kind of focused on her, and Jade didn’t like that, so she stole my phone and deleted a message that Penelope sent me. I get where she was coming from, and it was unfair of me to think I could move on like that, but I’m still mad at her.”

“As you should be,” Rebekah reassured her, “Jealousy is a nasty thing, it can really tear apart a relationship. I’ve definitely been in a few like that.”

Freya turned to her sister, “Speaking of you and your relationships.”

Rebekah groaned, “Can we not?”

Hope shook her head, a grin suddenly spreading across her face. Josie shared her excitement. Rebekah’s romantic life often felt like it was something out of a movie. 

“Aunt Bex, seriously, I’m your favourite niece, you have to tell me.”

Rebekah snorted, “You’re my only niece, unless your mother has another bun in the oven. And I’d hope that she told me about that.”

“Please?”

“Yeah, come on, Josie told you all about her life,” Lizzie exclaimed. 

Rebekah looked between the three girls and sighed.

“Alright, fine, what do you want to know?”

Freya grinned, “I saw you talking to Marcel Gerard at the gala. In fact, I think I’ve seen you two around each other a lot recently.”

Rebekah blushed, “That’s not a question.”

Hope practically bounced in her seat. 

“Are you dating Marcel?” 

Josie didn’t know much about Marcel Gerard, apart from the fact that he was one of Klaus Mikaelson’s close business partners. She was pretty sure that she’d seen him a couple of times, and that he’d seemed nice. If he made Rebekah blush and smile like that, he couldn’t be too bad.

“Okay, before I say anything, no one else in the family hears this.” She paused. “Apart from Hayley, of course she already knows.”

They all nodded. Freya huffed. 

“You told Hayley before me?”

“She’s very observant and persistent.”

“Well, I guess that’s fair.”

Rebekah moved some of her hair out of her face.

“Marcel and I aren’t really officially dating. We’re in the, I think you kids would call it the ‘talking’ stage?”

Hope laughed, “You trying to use teen phrases is entertaining.”

“Don’t mock me or I’ll take away my offer of a new leather jacket.”

Hope closed her mouth very quickly, and Josie saw Lizzie stifle a laugh.

“Anyways, we’re just seeing where things go. After all, Klaus is very protective, we don’t want a big deal made out of anything.”

Josie knew that was very true. Klaus was a very dramatic man. When he’d found out about the Hope and Roman relationship, if you could call it that, he’d been extremely terrifying, and Josie had gotten a lot of complaints from Hope.

“Well, as long as he makes you happy,” Hope told her. Rebekah laughed. 

“You are adorable Hope Andrea Mikaelson. Now, let’s finish up our dinner so we can hit the shops.”

+++

When they got to the mall, they split up. Lizzie and Hope went with Rebekah to go look at some jewellery, and Josie accompanied Freya on her trip to the bookstore to get a copy of a book that she wanted to buy for Keelin.

She had always preferred talking to Freya, it was like she understood Josie in a way that none of the others did. Freya was the eldest sibling in her family and from her stories, Josie had gathered that she had much experience with putting other people’s needs above her own.

When she’d first met Keelin, apparently there had been quite the rocky road to love. Keelin had wanted Freya to prioritise their relationship, had wanted Freya to stop being so closed off. It was because of these stories that Josie really wanted to talk to Freya about the stuff going on in her life.

She got the feeling that Freya might have some ideas on how she could put herself first, and how she could believe in herself.

They walked in silence for the most part to the bookstore, as Josie was trying to work up the courage to speak. She just needed to find the right words to ask the right question. 

“You alright Josie? You look very deep in thought.”

Josie blushed, “Yeah, I’m just thinking.”

Freya smiled, “Clearly.”

Josie looked down at her feet, watching herself walk across the patterned floor of the mall. 

“You wanna talk about it?”

Josie sighed, thankful that Freya had asked her. If she hadn’t, Josie was pretty sure that she would have stayed silent all night, no matter how much courage she told herself she was building.

“It’s about me and Penelope. I kind of wanted to ask for your opinion on some things.”

Freya nodded, “I’m all ears.”

Josie chewed at her lip, letting them walk a little more in silence as she thought. She sighed again. There was clearly no way that she was going to be able to find the right words, so she might as well start with the best ones she could find.

“We sort of talked about our problems a week or so ago, and we talked about why we broke up and everything.”

“I thought she broke it off because she didn’t think she was going to love you,” Freya said, but there was something in her tone that made Josie think that she already knew that there was more to the story.

“That’s what she told me, but I kind of never really believed it. And it wasn’t true.”

“So, why did she do it?”

Josie sighed, “I was pulling away from her, and I wasn’t talking to her, and I wasn’t focusing on our relationship like I had been. I’d basically started ignoring her, and she thought that it meant that I didn’t want to be with her anymore. She also has some issues with accepting love, so when I told her that I loved her, she freaked out a little.”

Freya nodded slowly, “You weren’t showing her that you loved her, but you still said the words. Maybe it reminded her of other relationships?”

Josie hadn’t thought about that specifically, but Freya made an excellent point. 

“Yeah, it was a whole mess.”

“Why were you pulling away?”

“I thought she was going to decide that I wasn’t good enough anymore.”

Freya laughed, “Oh you poor kids. So, what did the talk accomplish?”

“We’re friends now. We’ve admitted that we both still have feelings for each other, but we don’t want to get into a relationship again yet. We want to fix our own problems and work on rebuilding our original friendship first.”

Freya nodded, “That’s rather mature of you.”

Josie smiled, “Thanks.” It was nice to hear someone telling her that she was making the right choice by not getting back with her. That should shut up the voice in her head for a bit.

“So, what do you need me for?”

Josie blushed, “Well, I remember you telling us stories about you and Keelin, and how you had problems at first as well. I wanted to know if maybe you could tell me how to learn how to put myself first, and how to understand that people really want to be with me.”

Freya smiled, and pushed open the door to the bookstore. They walked in, and Josie instinctively inhaled the scent of books. It was probably one of her favourite smells. The store was lit by yellow lamps hanging from the ceiling, and Josie felt as if she had walked into an old library.

This shop had mostly second hand books, and Josie liked it, because there were so many little treasures you could find in the shelves.

Freya patted Josie’s shoulder, “Okay, I’m gonna go find my book, when we get out of here, I’ll give you some advice.” 

Josie nodded, and headed off into the stacks. Who knew? She might find something as well.

Her fingers trailed along the books, lips mouthing the titles and authors. These books had existed for decades, who knew what they may have seen. Love, heartbreak, loss, pain, new life, all of it. 

She wondered if one day her own books would live in these shelves, if a young girl just like her would brush their hand along something that had followed her through hard times. Perhaps one day someone else would read one of her dumb romance novels, one of the ones that she’d read, trying to stop feeling heartbreak, but had instead cried all over.

Or maybe one of her books of poetry, the ones that she’d bought to read pretty words so that she could be inspired to write her own. Maybe someone would run their fingers across a line she had underlined and wonder why it had meant so much to her.

She came to another such poetry book and found herself pulling it out. It was the complete works of Emily Dickinson, one of Josie’s favourite poets. She already had a copy of this particular book, but now she remembered that Penelope did not.

It would be a strange thing to remember, had Penelope not complained about it when Josie had read her some of the poems from her copy. Penelope had wanted to have her own copy so she could read it and remember Josie.

On a whim, Josie kept the book in hand, and decided that she would buy it, as a present for Penelope to represent their new beginning of sorts. It was strange, but she knew Penelope would appreciate it.

Freya met her at the counter, and insisted that she buy the book for Josie. Josie didn’t let her, telling her that it was her gift that she was buying, and it would have far more meaning if she bought it herself. Freya understood, and let Josie buy it.

They walked out of the bookstore, and Freya turned to Josie with a smile.

“Let me guess, for Penelope?”

Josie blushed, “Yeah. She mentioned not having this specific book, and I thought it would be nice if I got it for her.”

Freya nodded. She reached out a hand and placed it on Josie’s shoulder. 

“Let me give you my advice. To learn how to put yourself first, you just have to understand that you’re worth more than you think you are. It sounds hard, but the first thing to do is stop putting yourself down, stop assuming that everyone is better than you. Realise that your problems are worth paying attention to, and that you’ll feel better when you fix them, and that you deserve that.” She turned to look at Josie.

Josie just thought about what she said. It made sense. It sounded hard, probably because she’d spent most of her life putting herself in the shadow, but Freya was right. Everyone was right. She did deserve to step into the light.

“That sounds like something I can attempt to achieve.”

“Just remember that you have friends and family who are there for you, who want you to be happy, because they love you. I for one, think you’re an amazing kid, and that you’re a great friend to Hope. Yeah, you’ve messed up, but who hasn’t?” She nudged Josie’s shoulder with her own. 

“And I think Penelope knows how amazing you are, and I don’t think she’s going to give up on you easily. Not now that she knows you’re both going to fight for it.”

Josie beamed. 

“I think you might be right about that.”

+++

They reconvened with the others at a clothing store where Lizzie was trying on various dresses, Hope was trying not to drool, and Rebekah was trying not to laugh at Hope.

“There you two are! I was starting to think we might have to launch an endeavour to get you back from the books,” Rebekah exclaimed with a grin.

Hope stood and gestured to the book in Josie’s hand.

“I swear that you already have that.”

Josie blushed, knowing that Hope was going to give her so much shit for how soft this was.

“It’s for Penelope.”

Hope cocked an eyebrow, “I wasn’t aware that you were at the gift giving part of the friendship.”

“I wanted to get her something to symbolise our new beginning. And you know she loves poetry.”

“I know she loves it when you read her poetry,” Hope teased. Josie lightly shoved her.

“And you love watching my sister try on dresses.” She said it quietly enough that only Hope heard it, but Hope still gave her a panicked look.

It was at this moment that Lizzie appeared in her next dress. It was white with little blue butterflies all over it, and was short enough that it definitely would have gotten her banned from any school event. 

Of course, that didn’t matter, because she looked flawless. And judging by Hope’s slack jaw and wide eyes, Hope thought the same.

“Oh, that looks simply lovely,” Rebekah told Lizzie as she did a little spin.

Lizzie beamed, “Hope, what do you think?” She turned to meet Hope’s eyes. Hope immediately cleared her throat and nodded approximately one hundred times.

“Yeah, wow, you look…you look really pretty Liz.” She said it with such emotion and honesty that Josie wasn’t sure if she wanted to vomit or cry.

Lizzie also looked a little bit shaken by Hope’s voice, and she held Hope’s gaze for a few seconds longer. 

Dramatically staring really was their thing wasn’t it?

“Well, Lizzie, why don’t you gather up the dresses you want, and I’ll buy them for you. Meanwhile, Freya can take Josie and Hope and they can get gelato for all of us, how does that sound?” Rebekah looked between them all, giving Freya a look that definitely meant ‘find out just how bi our niece is for Elizabeth Forbes-Laughlin’.

Freya nodded and beckoned to Hope and Josie.

“Lizzie, what flavour do you want,” Josie asked.

“I’ll have strawberry,” Lizzie called from the changing room.

“I’ll have dark chocolate,” Rebekah requested. Freya nodded, and the three of them headed out.

They didn’t really speak much until Freya was at the counter ordering, and Hope and Josie had found a place to sit.

Josie turned to watch Hope, seeing that her mind was clearly miles away. Probably thinking about Lizzie, no doubt.

She nudged her arm.

“Hey.”

Hope looked up startled, “Hey?”

Josie just smiled, “You wanna talk about it?” She thought for a moment how that was exactly what Freya had asked, not even half an hour ago.

Hope sighed, “It’s just…” she trailed off, looking down at her fidgeting hands.

Josie decided to take matters into her own hands.

“I know that you still have feelings for Lizzie.”

Hope looked up; eyes wide like a deer in the headlights.

“What? No, what are you talking about, I’m not in love with Lizzie, why would you think that, I’m not in love with Lizzie,” she spluttered.

Josie just smiled, “I didn’t say anything about love, but okay.”

Hope opened her mouth, as if to argue, and then shut it, looking down at her lap again. She laughed self-deprecatingly.

“How obvious is it?”

“To everyone but Lizzie, super obvious. And don’t worry, I won’t tell her anything.”

“She figured it out last time.”

“And to this day, I still don’t know how she did.”

Hope shook her head, “I got too obvious. And, there was this one time…” she shook her head again, “Never mind. The point is, it’s probably a matter of time before she finds out and hates me again, right?”

Josie placed a hand on Hope’s shoulder.

“No. She wouldn’t hate you.”

“She did last time.”

“Last time, we all did and said things we shouldn’t have. You’re still you Hope, and you’re her best friend. She’s lost you once, and I know that she doesn’t want to ever do that again.”

Hope sighed, and offered Josie a small smile. 

“Thanks. Even if I find it hard to believe you.”

“Just trust me on this. I think you’ll be okay.” Lizzie just needed to figure out that she had feelings for Hope, and then she needed to realise that Hope still liked her. Josie suspected that she might need to have a lengthy chat with her sister at some point about this. One that got her to face the facts.

“I’m happy for you and Penelope though. It seems like you guys might be alright.”

Josie smiled. 

“We’ve got a bit left to go before then though. I’m just glad we’re on the road.”

She wondered how Penelope’s night was going. Was Landon being awkward as hell? Had MG challenged Kaleb to a dance battle? Had Penelope seen Jade and Maya together?

Josie wasn’t sure if she wanted that last one to happen or not. Knowing Penelope, it probably would’ve ended badly.

Freya came back with their gelatos, and Josie decided to not wonder about that for just a little bit longer. She would text Penelope tonight and she’d find out.

Until then, she was just going to be happy to spend time with some of the people who made her smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know there hasn't been much Posie in the past two chapters, and I am sorry about that. I'm trying my best to round out Josie and Penelope's characters and their relationships with other people, as well as with each other!  
> Next chapter will be back to Penelope, and I can promise a flashback, as well as a conversation with a surprising person!  
> Until then, have a good week, and remember to be nice to yourself!


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! As promised, it's Penelope's POV, and even though there's not really any Posie content, there is a lot of Penelope being very in love with Josie, so that's always good!  
> Also, this fic got 600 kudos! That's so cool, thanks guys!  
> Enjoy!

Penelope was halfway down the street, into the cold darkness of the night, when she heard a voice. 

She, of course, simply assumed that she was hallucinating, and continued walking. Then she saw the brightness of a car light falling upon her back and illuminating the street in front of her, and heard the voice again, louder this time.

She realised that someone, who was driving a car, was calling out to her. Shielding her vision from her light, she turned to see who it was. Shock filled her as the car slowed to a stop, and she realised that it was none other than Maya.

Maya threw open the door and stepped out, walking over to Penelope.

Penelope sighed, “If you drove all this way to insult me, I hope you know that you’re even worse than I thought.”

Maya shook her head, folding her arms across her chest.

“I’m here to apologise.”

Penelope cocked an eyebrow, “I wasn’t aware that you knew how to do that.”

Maya looked away, laughing, although Penelope wasn’t sure which one of them she was laughing at.

“Well, maybe I don’t.”

“If that’s the case, you should probably get back in your car.”

Maya looked back at Penelope.

“I was joking, I do want to apologise to you.”

Penelope laughed humourlessly and folded her arms across her chest, matching Maya’s stance.

“You’ve said that already. Anything else you wanna repeat, like how I’m a heartless bitch and no one is ever gonna love me?”

Maya looked down, her arms falling by her sides.

“I didn’t think you cared.”

“Is that supposed to be your apology?”

“No, I’m just saying I—I was just trying to defend myself, it’s what I do, I lash out at people because I don’t want them hurting me.”

Well, didn’t that sound familiar. Penelope found herself almost swayed by that, because she understood. Understood the need to hurt others before they hurt you. She’d done it countless times after all. Even with Josie.

But she couldn’t fall that easily. Maya was still a bitch; Penelope couldn’t just let her get away with what she said.

“Right. I’m still waiting for the apology that you were talking about, because all I’ve gotten so far are excuses.”

Maya sighed, “You’re right.” She stood up a little straighter, and with what looked like the most genuine expression that Penelope had ever seen her wear, said, “I’m sorry for what I said. It was out of line, and I shouldn’t have. I wanted to fight back, but I hurt you, and I’m sorry. I really am.”

Penelope held her gaze, “You brought up some real shitty stuff you know. That day, when I turned up to rehearsal looking like shit? You don’t know what was going on in my life, alright? You had no right to bring that up.”

Maya hung her head, “Yeah, I know. Trust me, I’m really sorry about that. I just saw a weak spot and attacked it.”

Penelope wasn’t done, “And that shit about me and Josie? You don’t know our relationship, okay? So, don’t fucking comment on it.”

“I won’t. I was being a major asshole, and a bitch, and I’m really fucking sorry.”

“Are you?”

“Yes.”

Penelope stared at her, trying to see any sense of manipulation. Her question was as to what the hell Maya was going to get out of this. They barely interacted as it was. Why would Maya care?

“Look, I’m telling the truth. I’m really sorry.”

Penelope nodded. It wasn’t the best apology she’d ever heard, but it wasn’t the worst either. She didn’t really want to be standing here anymore though, she’d better just send Maya on her way. 

“Consider the apology accepted. You can stop guilting yourself now and go back to the party.”

Maya shook her head, “No.”

Penelope wasn’t sure she’d heard her right, “No?”

“I’m not apologising just because I felt bad. I fucked up; I want to show you that I’m sincere.”

Penelope rose an eyebrow, sceptical of where this was going. 

“Okay, and how do you plan on doing that?”

“Well, you haven’t had dinner yet, right?”

Penelope paused, “No I haven’t.”

“Do you like sushi? There’s this cool place nearby, I can drive you and buy you some.”

Penelope just stared at her for a moment, trying to figure out what was happening. Hadn’t this girl been insulting her to her face literally ten minutes ago?

“Sorry, what?”

Maya sighed and took a step towards Penelope.

“Look. I don’t really have any friends at this school.”

“What’s Jade then?”

Maya blushed, “Jade isn’t real. I may have sort of planned to go with her to this thing because I wanted to piss off Josie. And she thought that maybe it would make Josie jealous and she’d realise that she’d made a mistake.”

Right. Because Maya hated Josie because she was a petty bitch. 

“Well, unless you’re planning on apologising to Josie as well, I think I’ll take my chances getting dinner by myself.” Penelope turned around and started to walk away.

“Okay,” Maya called after her.

Penelope stopped.

“I’ll apologise to Josie.”

Penelope turned around. Maya didn’t look like she was kidding.

Penelope took a step towards Maya, “I seriously have to ask. Why the change of heart? Because for the past few weeks, you’ve been nothing but a bitch to everyone. And you’ve been manipulative and you’ve caused drama. So, why are you ready to apologise?”

Maya looked down. Penelope, for some reason, waited for her answer.

“This is the first time I’ve actually really hurt someone here. Josie, sure she was pissed off, but you, I actually hurt you. And I don’t know, I think maybe I saw myself in you for a moment.”

“I don’t trust you. I don’t like you either.”

“I know. But right now, I’m alone at this school. And my mum keeps telling me that making friends won’t be the end of the world, and well, I saw Ethan tonight. He looked happy with Landon. I thought maybe I could give being genuine a try.” She looked back at Penelope. “I thought you might understand.”

Penelope wanted to shut her out, to push her away. There were probably a thousand worlds where she did. But she remembered that she was trying to be a better person. And maybe a better person listened, and stopped hurting people. And maybe she could help Maya be a better person along the way.

“Okay. But I’m making you pay for the sushi, and I’m holding you to the apology for Josie. And I want it to be a sincere apology, one that you mean, not one that you’re doing just because you don’t want me to be pissed.”

Maya nodded without hesitation.

“I can do that.”

Penelope gave her a small smile, enough to show her that they weren’t actively at war anymore, and then walked over to the car.

“Right well, let’s go. I’m starving.”

Maya laughed, walking over to the driver seat.

Penelope buckled her seatbelt and looked over with a grin.

“I’m totally gonna make you spill your whole life story,” she told Maya.

“No way.”

“I have a way with people. They just want to give me all their secrets.”

“Fine, but I want your life story in return.”

“You can have thirty percent.”

“I’ll have it up to sixty by the end of the night.”

“In your dreams Machado.”

+++

Penelope had visited this particular sushi shop many times before. Never with Josie, because Josie sadly had an allergy to seaweed, but with Hope and Landon. She still remembered twelve-year-old Landon forcing the meal down his throat with a grimace, and then realising that it actually tasted good.

She loved telling that story, mostly because it embarrassed Landon so much. She told Maya, purely so that Maya could bring it up some time in the future, if he and Ethan did indeed become a thing.

“If he dates your brother, he’s officially a shared problem,” Penelope told Maya as they sat down in the seating area near the sushi shop. 

Maya scoffed, “Isn’t he like your best friend?”

“I don’t have a best friend. Besides, he’d refer to me as a problem as well, it’s how we are.”

Penelope knew it was kind of weird that they were sitting outside of a little sushi shop, wearing their Homecoming dresses, both of which were kinda fancy, but it felt strangely normal. Which was weird, considering that her and Maya technically weren’t even friends.

Maya shook her head, “You may say that you don’t have a best friend, but surely you do.”

Penelope shrugged, “No, I have a few close friends, but my relationship is different with each of them. I can’t compare them.”

“Explain,” Maya asked, and then took a bite out of her sushi.

Penelope had thought about this many times. Before she’d started dating Josie, she’d held that title of best friend. Now, she was so much more than that. She was everything to Penelope. 

She could give the title to Hope, but Landon had been with her through so much, had put a smile on her face so many times when she’d struggled to feel any joy. So, she made a point of not comparing them.

“Josie’s basically the love of my life, so while she was once my best friend, I can’t really call her that. Hope’s been with me through so much, she’s my rock, she keeps me steady. And Landon, well, he makes me smile, he’s almost a brother to me. Hope and Landon, they’re family.”

Maya smiled, but there was something off about it. Penelope wondered if she’d ever had anyone that she could call a best friend. Or even someone she could call a friend. 

“I guess that makes sense. Although, I think you’re being dramatic about Josie. You’re seventeen, what do you know about love?”

Penelope grinned, and Maya, upon seeing her expression, groaned. 

“I’m gonna regret asking that question, aren’t I?”

“Oh yeah.”

And so, Penelope began to tell Maya the story of her and Josie, starting from the very beginning.

_\---_

_The first day of kindergarten was very warm, which was not surprising, considering that summer had just ended. To Penelope’s small eyes, the school looked so big, and there were so many big people._

_Her mother was at work, so her father was the one to drop her off at school. Her tiny hand was wrapped around his fingers, and she bounced up and down, so excited to finally be here._

_She had been to preschool, of course, but this was new. This was the beginning of big school._

_Her eyes found what she assumed to be the biggest kids in the school. One day she would be them. Her dad had told her they were in Year 6. Six years. Penelope was only five right now, six years seemed like such a long time._

_“You be a good girl for me Penelope, alright? Use your manners, listen to your teachers, and be nice to the other kids.”_

_Penelope nodded, “I will daddy.”_

_\---_

“Is this going somewhere or are you just reminiscing about the days when you were five and didn’t have higher thought processes?”

“Sorry, did I ask for contributions to the story?”

“You’re taking too long.”

“I’m getting there. Now shut up or I’ll go into even deeper detail about everything.”

“Proceed.”

_\---_

_He patted her head, “I’ve got to go to work now. Why don’t you go over there and sit with that girl?” He gestured to a little red headed girl sitting at a table by herself. She was colouring in a picture with crayons._

_Penelope smiled up at her dad again, and then walked over to the girl. She was a little nervous, because she’d never really talked to other kids. At her preschool she’d mostly kept to herself._

_She stopped before she sat down, remembering that she needed to use her manners. Her mother got very mad at her when she didn’t use her manners._

_“Hello, can I sit here?”_

_The red head looked up and smiled at her._

_“You can sit down. Just don’t steal my crayons. My daddy got them for me as a special present.”_

_Penelope didn’t really have any interest in drawing, so she didn’t think it would be too hard not to steal the crayons. She sat down and just stared at the table._

_“What’s your name?”_

_Penelope looked up, to see that the girl was looking at her curiously. She blushed; she should have introduced herself. Her mother wouldn’t be happy with her manners._

_“I’m Penelope Park. Sorry.”_

_The girl frowned, “Why are you sorry?”_

_“Mama says it’s rude to not introduce yourself,” Penelope stumbled a little over her words, she’d always had trouble pronouncing t’s, but the other girl seemed to understand anyway._

_The girl nodded thoughtfully, “My mother says it’s rude to yell at people, but she yells at my dad a lot. Maybe mothers aren’t really always right.”_

_Penelope found that hard to believe, but she nodded anyway. She didn’t want to upset her new friend. If this was what friendship was._

_“I’m Hope Mikaelson,” the girl introduced herself._

_“Nice to meet you.”_

_Hope nodded, but didn’t say anything else._

_Penelope decided that was enough conversation for now, so she just went back to staring at the table._

_\---_

“Why are you such a loser child?”

“What did I say about interruptions?”

“Just get to the part about meeting the love of your life. Because I’m pretty sure it isn’t Hope.”

_\---_

_They sat in silence for a while, which Penelope was content with. Although, she did sort of want to talk to Hope. She just didn’t know about what._

_Then another voice called out._

_“Hey Hope!”_

_They both turned to see who it was._

_The voice had come from a tiny blonde girl who with a pink backpack. Her mother, who was also blonde, was holding her hand. They had clearly just entered the classroom._

_However, Penelope’s attention was drawn to the girl holding the other hand of the blonde mother._

_She was brunette, and she had the cutest little pout on her face as she tried to get her backpack, which was also pink, off of her shoulder. Penelope couldn’t help but watch her._

_If you’d asked her what she was feeling in that moment, Penelope wouldn’t be able to put a name to it. But her legs felt a little bit like jelly, and her stomach felt fuzzy, the way it did when she was on the swings, and she’d gone really high._

_This was a good fuzzy. It felt good and it made Penelope want to smile. So, she did._

_“Who are they?” Penelope’s eyes didn’t leave the brunette girl, who had finally gotten the bag off her shoulder, and was now beaming at herself with pride._

_“They're the Forbes-Laughlin twins. My dad is friends with their mum.”_

_“What are their names?”_

_“Elizabeth and Josette. But I call Elizabeth Lizzie.”_

_“Which one is which?”_

_“You ask a lot of questions,” Hope remarked. Penelope turned to look at her._

_“Because I wanna have answers.”_

_Hope nodded, seeming to find that answer satisfactory._

_“Lizzie is blonde. She’s my best friend. Josette is brunette. She doesn’t really talk much.”_

_Josette Forbes-Laughlin. It was a bit of a mouthful, and Penelope didn’t know if she’d be able to say it out loud. But it was a pretty name. And Josette was a pretty girl, Penelope knew that much._

_\---_

“That was adorable,” Maya commented dryly. Penelope flicked her arm.

“That is a foundational story in my life. How dare you mock it?”

Maya rolled her eyes and took another bite of her sushi. 

“I’m not mocking it. I think it’s cute that five-year-old Penelope saw Josie and just immediately knew. I personally don’t get why you stuck with her all these years. From what I can see, she’s not all that special.”

Penelope forced down a scathing comeback, knowing that Maya was just saying what she thought, and that not everyone was legally required to love Josie. Although, they should be, because how on earth could you not?

“You don’t see what I see.”

Maya watched Penelope thoughtfully.

“Alright, I’m gonna regret asking this as well, but what do you see in her?”

Penelope smiled just thinking about it.

“She’s amazing. She’s kind, like, she’s the type of person who’d stay and wait for you to tie up your shoelaces, or would sit with you as you cried, just so you didn’t have to be alone.”

“Speaking from experience?”

“Yeah.” Penelope didn’t think she could even count the number of times that Josie had been with her. Even back when they were kids, if Penelope had a nightmare, Josie would sit with her, and would hug her.

“So, she’s kind. What else?”

“She makes you smile, especially when you don’t want to. It’s like she fills your heart with light. She’s selfless, to a fault, a lot of the time, and while I hate seeing her tear herself apart to make others whole, I know she just wants people to be happy, and she just wants to help. And you know, she’s actually really smart too. Not in the maths sciency way that everyone cares about, but artistically. The way she writes is just crazy, I think the whole world will know her name one day.”

Maya nodded, “From what you’re telling me, she sounds wonderful. I get why anyone would like her. But that’s not what I was asking, not really. I want to know what makes her special to you. What is it about her that makes you call her the love of your life?”

Penelope thought that maybe she’d have to think about it, to take some time to pinpoint which of Josie’s amazing qualities made her perfect in Penelope’s eyes. But she didn’t. The words just fell out of her, and when she heard them, she knew it was true.

“She makes me want to be selfless. My whole life, I’ve been taught that I need to protect myself, and that all that matters is that I get what I want. And I’m good at it. I’m good at taking what I need and not caring who gets hurt. But with Josie, I feel like she makes me want to be better. She makes me care; I’d do anything for her. Because she’s home. She’s safety to me. When I’m with her, I don’t want to hide.”

“But you did hide, didn’t you?”

Penelope rolled her eyes, “Sorry, did I ask for comments on my life choices?” It was a bit harsh, but she was still a little pissed at Maya’s earlier comments, and this was just a bit too personal.

Maya winced, “I worded that wrong, sorry. What I meant was, if she was so special to you, why did you break up with her? I just don’t understand why you’d give up something like that.”

Penelope looked down. Maya had a point. Josie was her home, Josie made her feel safe, Josie made her want to spread good, made her want to be good, even though she was convinced that she wasn’t.

And wasn’t that it, really? She’d convinced herself that she wasn’t good enough for the safety that Josie offered, for the goodness that was Josie.

“I guess I felt like I wasn’t worth that feeling.”

Maya looked at her, and Penelope realised that there was understanding in her eyes. She decided that it was Maya’s turn to open up.

“I just realised that I said I was gonna make you tell me your life story, and it’s just been me rambling this whole time. It’s your turn Machado.”

Maya shrugged and looked down.

“Not much of a story really. No great love or friends who stand by me.”

“Well, it’s still your story. And I want to hear it.”

Maya looked back at her, “Why?”

Penelope shrugged, “Maybe I want to know you. The you behind the passive aggressive act, and the insults and manipulation.” Maya stared at her, eyes softening a little. Because the moment felt just a touch too emotional, Penelope tried to lighten the mood with a joke.

“And well, I don’t have anything better to do with my night. Might as well hear a story.”

Maya nodded, “Alright Park, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

And so, Maya told her the story.

Maya’s father had pretty much left the picture the moment her and Ethan were born. According to her mother, he’d never been the father type, and twins was too much for him. So, he’d disappeared.

Her mother worked with a disaster relief team, and they’d moved around a lot, which had meant there was no room for making friendships.

“That sucks,” Penelope commented.

Maya shrugged, “It is what it is, I guess. Ethan always took it in his stride, was always just the happy son, kept a smile on his face, made friends wherever we went. I couldn’t do it. During Middle School, I was the new kid, which meant no one cared. So, I learnt to not care either, learnt how to just get in with the popular kids, you know, the ones who no one really likes, and they all either hate each other or fuck each other?”

“Oh yeah those ones. I’ve definitely made out with some of them.”

Maya rolled her eyes, “What happened to being madly in love with Josie?”

“I only got together with her officially at the beginning of last year. There was a little time for me to be a player.”

“You were what, fourteen? Fifteen?”

“Yes, and that is so not the point here. Keep up with your story.”

Maya kicked Penelope under the table, and kept going.

“Living like that, you don’t make lasting friends, and you don’t learn how to be nice. It’s like what you said, you take what you need, and you don’t care who gets hurt.” She sighed. “I don’t have a Josie. I have a brother, but he doesn’t get it. He’s too nice for his own good.”

“In my opinion there are two types of people in this world. The selfless and the selfish,” Penelope commented.

Maya laughed, “Yeah. That’s about right. I guess you and I are selfish, right? We’re the bad guys.”

“Maybe. But we can be better. We just need to learn that taking things isn’t going to keep us safe. That people like us, people who are selfish because the world taught us that being anything else is weak, can find other ways to protect ourselves.”

Maya leaned forwards, “Like what?”

Penelope grinned, “When I find out, I’ll tell you.”

Maya laughed, “Right.”

“My point is, maybe we aren’t the bad guys we think we are. And maybe you just need some people to believe in you.”

Maya scoffed, “What, like you?”

“Why not?”

“You’ve already got friends.”

“Hey, the more the merrier, right?”

Maya glared at her, “I’m not a charity case.”

“Did I say you were? Maybe I just want another friend, have you considered that?”

Maya laughed derisively, “And you want to be friends with me?”

“I’m game if you are.”

Maya stared at her for a moment, clearly trying to tell if she was being serious. Finally, she nodded and held out her hand.

“Alright, shake on it.”

Penelope stared at her hand. 

Maya frowned, “What?”

“Shake on it?”

“Is that like illegal to do around here or something?”

“No, but it is a little weird.”

Maya blushed and pulled her hand away, but Penelope reached out and grabbed it before she could get it off the table.

“Despite your weirdness and absolute shit attitude earlier, you’ve got a deal. Friends.”

Maya grinned, and Penelope smiled back when she noticed that it was a sincere grin of happiness, not a sarcastic one. God, this girl needed more friends. If she could just get Lizzie and Hope past the part where she hurt Josie, they’d get along brilliantly.

Speaking of Josie, Penelope wondered how her night was. She was probably having a brilliant time. Penelope decided that she’d text Josie when she got home, just to see how her night was going.

Ugh, she was so whipped. Seriously, they’d gone for weeks, months even without talking, and now suddenly she couldn’t go a few hours. 

“Right, it’s getting late, how about you drive me home as a sealing of our friendship?”

Maya scoffed, “At this point in our friendship, I’m feeling used.”

“I will recite every word you said to me at Homecoming, do not test me, my memory is very petty.”

“Fine, you can have a ride home. And again, I am sorry.”

“I know. Now seriously, it’s cold as shit out here, let’s go.”

+++

Maya pulled up in front of Penelope’s house, and Penelope turned over to look at her with a grin.

“Thank you Maya,” she said, singsonging the words a little, like a kid when they said good morning to a teacher.

Maya rolled her eyes, “You’re so immature.”

“Yeah, but I’m your only friend, so you can’t make fun of me.”

“Bullshit, I swear that I’ve heard you insult your friends like a million times.”

“I guess you’ll never know.” She pointed her finger at Maya. “Now, what are you gonna do on the weekend and on Monday.”

Maya sighed, “I’m going to come up with a sincere apology for Josie, which won’t be hard because I did feel bad, she’s kinda like a little puppy dog, it’s hard to be mean to her. Then, once I’ve gotten your girlfriend to like me, we can officially be friends.”

“Not my girlfriend.”

“Not yet.”

Penelope opened the door, “Goodnight Maya.”

“Oh, I see, running away, very mature.”

Penelope rolled her eyes and grinned at her.

“I’ll see you on Monday.”

“See you on Monday.”

Penelope shut the door and walked up to the door, using her key to open it up. 

Thankfully, her father was no longer on the couch. If he had been, Penelope didn’t know what she would have done. But, now that she didn’t have to take care of a grown man, she could just be a normal kid and get undressed and ready for bed.

And then she could text Josie like a kid with a crush. 

She was halfway up the stairs when she ran into her dad. He looked at her with surprise, as if for some reason he hadn’t expected his kid to be in his house.

“You’re back early,” he commented. Penelope looked at the time on her phone. It was 10pm. Which was basically the time she probably would have been back anyway. 

“It’s ten.”

He frowned, “Really? I could’ve sworn it was earlier.”

She shrugged, “Well, it isn’t, so uh, I’m gonna head up and have a shower.”

He nodded, an absent-minded look in his eyes as she passed him. She felt an emptiness in her heart but didn’t allow herself to acknowledge it. Her dad was a person too, he was allowed to be imperfect.

Even if Penelope sometimes just wanted someone to take care of her, someone to be consistent.

The shower was nice. She turned up the heat, and put on her music, and hummed along to it, feeling like she was washing off all the mess of the day. She’d always been a night owl, mostly because at night, there were no expectations. No one wanted her to be perfect, she could just be.

Once she was dressed in her pyjamas, she tucked herself into her bed, and slid her earplugs into her ears, playing some softer music as she scrolled through her social media. It was basically just post after post about Homecoming. Lizzie had posted on her story a picture of her meal with Rousseau’s tagged, and Josie had posted a picture on her story of that bookstore that her and Freya loved. 

Penelope exited Instagram and opened up her messages, sending a quick one to Josie.

**Penelope: Hey Jojo. When you get home, text me back, I want to hear all about your night**

**Penelope: And tell you about mine, because seriously, it was kinda crazy**

She put her phone to the side, just waiting for Josie to text her, knowing that whenever she did, she’d put a smile on Penelope’s face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, I know a lot of you are going to be wary of Maya, but she isn't actually a bad person. She's going to try to be better, so, we'll see how that goes!  
> Side note, it was very fun writing that flashback, they're so adorable and tiny, and I love the idea of Penelope being in love with her from first sight!  
> Next chapter, it's back to Josie POV, and we're going to get some quality sister bonding, and some cute Posie texts!  
> Until then, as I always tell you, take care of yourselves!


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, did you miss me?   
> It's time for some quality sister time, and some Hizzie/Posie content!  
> Enjoy!

Lizzie had been restless ever since they got into the car.

Freya was talking with Hope and Rebekah about some of the things that little Henry had done recently, and usually, Lizzie would be cooing and awing at the adorableness.

But instead, she was staring out the window, laughing in a way that only Josie and Hope could know was forced.

Josie knew that she wouldn’t want to talk about it, especially not right now, so she decided to wait until they got home to bring it up.

Besides, Hope had her hand on Lizzie’s leg, and was absentmindedly tracing patterns, so Josie figured that she’d be alright.

It felt like no time at all before they were pulling up in front of their house, and Freya and Rebekah were insisting on walking them to the door, so they could have a chat with their mothers. Josie knew well enough that the chat would definitely end up being a thirty-minute conversation, so, she mentally prepared for that.

The door opened and Caroline was there, smiling and asking about their night, and how they were doing. The girls stepped away from the adults, and for a moment just stood there, staring at each other.

Then Hope grinned, “They do this every time, don’t they?”

Lizzie nodded, “Every time. It’s like clockwork. It’ll be a miracle if they don’t get invited in for a cup of coffee.”

Josie looked over to see that Jo had joined the conversation.

“Yeah, they’ll be talking for a bit longer.”

Lizzie laughed, but Josie noticed that it didn’t really reach any part of her face. Hope also noticed, because she frowned, and stepped forwards, reaching out to touch Lizzie’s face.

“Are you alright? You’ve been acting just a bit off.”

Lizzie actually stepped back, away from Hope’s touch, and that’s when Josie started to realise what was going on.

“Yeah, I’m just tired. All that shopping drained me just a little bit.”

Hope’s frown didn’t slip off her face, but she stepped back, her hand dropping to her side.

“As long as you’re okay.”

Lizzie smiled, and this time it just touched the corners of her eyes. 

“I’m okay.”

Hope smiled back, and Josie looked over to the adults, not wanting to interrupt their staring. Freya caught her eye, and Josie tried to communicate that she did not want the usual coffee meet up to happen.

It was time for her to step up as a sister and have a serious talk with Lizzie.

Freya nodded, and in a voice just a bit louder than it needed to be, announced, “You know, I feel a bit tired. It’s been lovely catching up with you, but we’d better get going. Henry will probably be about to wake up again, and I can’t leave my wife to deal with him alone.”

Caroline and Jo nodded, and Josie turned back to Hope, who smiled and hugged her.

“It was nice hanging out with you Jo. Even if it was only for a little bit.”

Josie smiled into her shoulder, “I’m always here for you Hope,” she whispered, wanting Hope to know what she was talking about. When Hope pulled back, she nodded discretely, and Josie knew that she understood.

Hope wrapped her arms around Lizzie, burying her head into Lizzie’s neck, which was not hard because there was quite a height difference between the two of them.

“I had a fun time shopping with you Liz.”

“Coming from you, that means a lot,” Lizzie replied, and Josie could almost hear the panic in her voice. 

Her sister was an idiot.

Hope pulled back, but before she left, she went up on her tiptoes, and kissed Lizzie on the cheek. Lizzie blushed and smiled at Hope, who whispered something to Lizzie, and walked off to join her aunts.

Josie walked over to Lizzie, and looked up at her. Her cheeks had now evolved to tomato red.

“Hey Lizzie?”

“Yeah, Jo?”

“Do you want to call sister time?”

Lizzie looked down at her, confusion in her eyes. Then, panic. Josie knew she was about to start blabbering about how she didn’t know what Josie was talking about, so she just laid a hand on her arm.

“Lizzie, you can talk to me about anything. I can keep a secret, and I promise I won’t judge.”

Lizzie’s features relaxed, but she chewed her lip for a moment.

“Girls, come in, it must be getting cold out there!”

The two of them headed inside, and Josie did have to note that it was much warmer inside of the house than outside. 

“Right, you two go up to bed. You’re both probably exhausted.”

They nodded, and with a chorus of ‘night mums’, headed upstairs to their respective bedrooms. Josie knew that Lizzie needed to talk about this, but she wasn’t going to push, so she just started getting ready for bed by herself.

After brushing her teeth, showering, and getting dressed in pyjamas, she climbed into her bed, trying to get comfortable.

She was just about to check her text messages, to see if Penelope had said anything, when the door opened. Lizzie poked her head in.

“Jo?”

“Yeah?”

“Is sister time still available?”

Josie smiled and reached out to Lizzie. 

“Always. Come in.”

Lizzie softly shut the door behind her and walked into the bedroom, sitting on the covers. Josie sat up and turned her fairy lights on, letting their soft glow illuminate the room.

“What do you want to talk about?”

Lizzie looked down at her hands.

“I…I think you already know.”

Josie poked her knee, “Maybe, but I want you to tell me.”

Lizzie nodded, but stayed silent. Josie just waited for her sister. She didn’t really know what was going through her mind right now, but she knew that it was probably hard to put to words.

So, she waited.

Eventually, Lizzie looked up and said, “Okay, I’m going to ask you some things, but they don’t mean anything. I just want to know answers.”

Josie knew that Lizzie just needed to feel like there was still a safety blanket, so she nodded.

“Right.” Lizzie chewed her lip again. Josie poked her knee again.

“Come on Liz, I’m your twin. Just ask whatever it is.”

Lizzie sighed, “How did…how did you know that you…that you were…you know?”

Josie laughed gently, “Are you asking me how I knew I was pansexual?”

Lizzie nodded, keeping her mouth shut.

Josie just tried to answer as honestly as possible.

“Well, I just realised that I thought girls were pretty. And then I realised that I felt the same way looking at a pretty girl as I did when I looked at a pretty guy. It wasn’t like one day I woke up and knew, it was like…gradually, I realised what I was feeling, and I realised that it was okay.”

Lizzie nodded, “And…you realised it because you liked a particular girl?”

Josie laughed, thinking of her old crush on Hope. At the time, it had been such a big thing for her, and she’d been practically obsessed. Now, she couldn’t imagine feeling things like that for the girl who was basically her best friend.

“Well, yeah, I figured out that I had a crush on Hope. At first, I had thought that I just really wanted to be close friends with her, and I didn’t get why I didn’t like it when she talked to other people, or when other people liked her. And then I realised why that was.”

Lizzie had a frown on her face, and Josie guessed that she was having a very similar experience to what Josie had just described.

“But of course, I got over her, and now I think about it as a silly childhood crush. For me, it’s Penelope now, and I think it will be for a while. As annoying as I used to think that was, I’ve accepted it, because you don’t get to choose feelings like that. They just happen.”

Lizzie chewed her lip, and Josie rested a hand on her knee. 

“Lizzie, you don’t have to answer this, but do you feel like this?”

Lizzie kept looking away, as if meeting Josie’s eyes would break her. And then she slowly nodded.

“I don’t think I’m pan like you. You told me once that the word just feels right for you, and I don’t really feel that. I think I might be bi though; it feels right for me.”

Josie smiled, “Yeah?”

Lizzie finally met her gaze, “Yeah.”

Josie’s smile widened, “I’m proud of you for telling me. Do you want to talk about it?”

Lizzie nodded again.

“Okay, well, how did you figure it out?” Josie watched as Lizzie’s eyes filled with fear, and she almost wanted to ask if it was Hope, but she didn’t. 

“I…I think I like a girl. I think I’ve liked her for a really long time, but I was just too scared to accept it.”

Josie knew exactly what that was like. At first, she’d been so scared of losing Penelope by confessing feelings, been so scared that she’d break something good for a chance at something more.

But she’d realised that it was worth it, that the bold stroke was worth it.

“Why were you scared?”

“Because it’s scary, loving someone like that.” Lizzie’s eyes were filled with pleading, as if she wanted Josie to give her an out. But Josie couldn’t. Not when she knew that Lizzie was so close to saying it, to accepting it. 

“What do you mean?”

“She knows me, she knows all of me. And I’ve hurt her, and what it goes horribly wrong? Penelope knew you better than anyone, and she broke your heart, she hurt you so badly. And what if I can’t be what they need?”

She sounded so much like Josie had in her own head. Which was exactly why Josie needed to help her now. She wouldn’t let her sister make the same mistakes that she did. 

Josie smiled, “Love is a risk, Lizzie. Yes, I got my heart broken by Penelope, but we were stupid and scared. But I think we both know that what we have is something that could be so worth it, and we’re willing to fight for it.”

Lizzie looked away.

“Are you willing to fight for Hope?” Josie didn’t mean to say her name, but she knew that she was right, that there was no one else that it could be.

Lizzie’s head shot back to her.

“I—I’m not in love with Hope, why would you think that—”

“Lizzie. It’s okay.”

Lizzie looked at her, and Josie tried her best to show her just how much she understood. Eventually, Lizzie looked down at her hands and sighed.

“Everyone knew before I did.”

“It’s okay. It takes time sometimes to realise the truth.”

Lizzie shook her head, “That day, when she told me…I didn’t know what to do. I told her that I didn’t know if I had feelings for her, because I didn’t want to admit to it. Especially not right after you and Penelope…I hurt her Josie.”

Josie nodded, “I know, but you apologised, and she forgave you.”

“She doesn’t feel the same anymore. I missed my chance, because I was so stupid, and childish, and I was too late.”

Josie was so close to just telling Lizzie that Hope was still in love with her, but she couldn’t betray her trust like that. Besides, this was something they needed to figure out themselves.

“I don’t think you're too late."

“How do you know?”

“She had feelings for you for as long as Penelope had feelings for me. She couldn’t just get over that in one summer, believe me. Both Penelope and I tried that.”

Lizzie sniffled, and Josie realised that she was crying, “Speak for yourself, I think Satan just obsessed over you for the whole time.”

Josie shrugged, “Maybe. But the point is that you still have a chance. You just need to show Hope that you’re an option.”

Lizzie looked pretty upset, and Josie could tell that just talking about this was hard for her. Josie understood though; Lizzie was her sister; she knew well enough that she had trouble talking about things like this.

She decided that maybe a slight diversion from the topic might be good.

“You know, I’m still pretty surprised that you figured out that Hope had feelings for you the first time around.”

Lizzie smiled, just a tiny bit and wiped some of her tears away, “I’d always known, I think. But I just told myself that that was how Hope showed affection, or that I was reading into it too much. I didn’t want things to be weird, because we were kids and I didn’t think I liked girls.”

Josie smiled, “But you realised that you did.”

“I did. But I really didn’t want to accept it. To be honest, I don’t think I would have noticed but there was this moment…” she trailed off and stared into the distance.

Josie frowned. Both Hope and Lizzie had now mentioned a moment where Hope’s feelings had been exposed. But Josie had no idea what they were talking about.

“What moment? I don’t think you ever mentioned it to me.”

Lizzie blushed, “Mostly because I didn’t know what to do about it. I just avoided Hope, because I was scared that I was going to hurt her with my own confusion. And well, I guess I did in the end.”

Josie tilted her head, “Can you tell me about it?”

“Me hurting Hope?”

“No, you idiot, tell me about the moment.”

Lizzie looked away, her cheeks still tinted pink.

“It can’t have been that bad,” Josie argued. 

Lizzie sighed, “It wasn’t. It’s just…I don’t know it was just a lot.”

Josie tried her best to make eye contact with Lizzie, trying to convey that she was sincere when she spoke.

“If you really don’t feel comfortable telling me, that’s okay. But remember that I am your sister and while I do have the constant need to annoy you, I’m being serious right now.”

Lizzie snorted, “You totally need to annoy me all the time. It’s like your one personality trait.”

“Hey, I have more than one personality trait!”

“Right, I forgot being in love with Penelope and playing Gabriella in the musical.”

Josie whacked Lizzie with her pillow.

“I’m trying to be nice and you’re deflecting.”

“It’s what I do.”

“This is sister time. You can’t be mean to me.”

Lizzie rolled her eyes, “Fine, I won’t be mean.” Her expression grew nervous again, “About what happened…Hope and I kissed.”

“You what?” Josie physically had to stop herself from yelling that, but Lizzie still hushed her.

“Keep it down, I don’t need this becoming a whole family affair.”

“You kissed Hope? Does anyone know?”

Lizzie shrugged, “Penelope, probably. But don’t tell her, just in case she doesn’t know. I don’t need her holding this over my head.”

Josie settled down a little, “So, what happened? How did you kiss and then both decide that it was platonic?”

Lizzie blushed, “It was at Raf’s party last year. Everyone was drinking, and some idiot suggested seven minutes in heaven. Hope and I got picked and so we went into the closet.”

“Ironic,” Josie commented, and Lizzie picked up a pillow and whacked her with it. 

“Don’t interrupt me. Anyways, we were just talking, but I think she might have had more than me to drink, because she...she started talking about how pretty I was, and how she didn’t think there was anyone in the world more amazing than me.”

Josie was starting to wonder how Hope had made it so far in her and Lizzie’s friendship without messing up if all it took for her to go all romantic was a bit of alcohol.

“And, well, I don’t know, we got really close, and she kissed me. It was only for a little bit, and we got pulled out soon after, and I don’t think anyone knew that we kissed, but I kind of had to deal with the fact that I might like girls, and the fact that Hope might like me.”

Josie nodded, “What does a little bit mean?”

Lizzie looked down, “We didn’t like…make out or anything.”

“But like, more or less than five seconds?”

“…more.”

“More than ten?”

“It was like seven seconds, and it’s irrelevant, she told me that she doesn’t really care anymore.”

“But the problem is that now you really care, and you want to do it again,” Josie added. Lizzie nodded.

“I just feel like an idiot for messing up.” Lizzie fiddled with her fingers. Josie could sense that there was something she wanted to say, but probably wouldn’t, so, she decided to open up a bit about her own experience with loving her best friend.

“You know, the main reason why Penelope and I didn’t work out the first time, was because we were too focused on our own insecurities, and we were too focused on everything that we thought we were doing wrong, instead of just talking to each other, and understanding the truth. If you’re having doubts, I don’t think that internalising them is the best way to go about it. Hope is your best friend. Just remember that.”

Lizzie sighed, “But she’s Hope. She’s always been too good for me.”

“And she’s never cared, because to her, you’re everything.”

Lizzie smiled, just a fraction, and Josie knew that she was slowly getting through to her.

“Look, take all the time you need to come to terms with it, but just remember that you don’t have forever. You can’t keep running from happiness, because you deserve it too.”

Lizzie looked up at Josie and smiled, wider this time, shaking her head.

“What?” Josie asked, confused about what exactly Lizzie was shaking her head about.

“You got wise. Maybe all this stuff has been good for you, because it’s reminded you of what’s important, and it’s shown you that you’re better than you think you are. You just need to fully realise that too.”

Josie smiled, “I’m getting there.”

Lizzie nodded, “I want to be with Hope. I just think I need a little bit more time to tell myself that it won’t end horribly.”

Josie patted her shoulder, just a little bit awkwardly. 

“I think you’re gonna be okay. You just need to have hope." She grinned at her bad joke. 

Lizzie rolled her eyes, “I hate your jokes.”

“I don’t understand why, they’re amazing.”

Lizzie nodded and stood up, “I’m gonna go to bed. Sleep on it and everything.” She walked away, but turned back when she reached the door. “Piece of advice for you. Penelope doesn’t have a lot of people reminding her that she’s good enough. If she truly wants to get better, I think you being by her side to help her, just a bit, would do well.”

Josie smiled at how Lizzie was being thoughtful about someone who she didn’t even really like that much. She was glad that Lizzie was finally being supportive of her and Penelope.

“Thanks. I think I’ll text her now.”

Lizzie laughed, “Yeah, she’ll definitely be awake, I don’t think that girl sleeps.”

Josie smiled, “Night Lizzie.”

“Night Josie.”

Lizzie shut the door, and Josie rested back against her pillows. She was about to shut her fairy lights off, but decided against it. Texting Penelope in a completely dark room was probably terrible for her vision. 

She checked her phone and saw that Penelope had already texted her. 

**Pen <3😊: Hey Jojo. When you get home, text me back, I want to hear all about your night**

**Pen <3😊: And tell you about mine, because seriously, it was kinda crazy**

She was definitely intrigued by that. Homecoming was often fairly uneventful, besides from some drama with the Year 9’s. If Penelope thought it had been eventful, then maybe it really had been.

**Josie: hey, i just got back**

**Josie: do tell me about your night**

**Pen <3😊: i was literally just about to go to sleep**

**Josie: you? sleeping? is this a clone**

**Pen <3😊: hilarious jojo**

**Pen <3😊: my night was exhausting, i need my beauty sleep**

**Josie: no you don’t, you’re already beautiful**

Penelope didn’t respond for a moment and Josie started to worry that she’d made it weird. She’d never been very good with flirting.

**Pen <3😊: you have no idea how hard i’m smiling right now**

**Josie: oh good i was worried that i’d made it awkward**

**Pen <3😊: don’t even worry**

**Pen <3😊: compliments from you are very appreciated**

**Josie: you deserve all the compliments**

**Pen <3😊: someone’s in a good mood**

**Josie: i just wanted to remind you that i care**

**Josie: can’t have you forgetting**

Penelope started typing for a while, and Josie started getting worried again. Why was she so worried? Her and Penelope were good now, she needed to stop doubting herself, she needed to stop thinking that Penelope was going to get bored. 

If Penelope wasn’t all in, she wouldn’t have told Josie all that stuff. Penelope didn’t open up to people that she didn’t care about, or people that she didn’t want to keep in her life.

**Pen <3😊: Josie, I hope you know how much you mean to me. Not everyone would have stuck around for me like this, and I really appreciate it. I don’t ever want to lose you again, and I don’t ever want to forget you. And even though I told you not to wait, I wanted to let you know that I fully plan on being the one for you again**

**Pen <3😊: uh, that was kinda a lot, i’m sorry. i guess im just feeling like i need to let you know**

**Pen <3😊: I kinda had a conversation tonight that made me realise just how important you are**

**Pen <3😊: as if i could ever forget though**

Josie smiled as she read her texts. Penelope could be really heartfelt and thoughtful when she wanted to be. And she could also be so self-conscious and nervous. Josie was one of the few people who got to see that side, and she knew that meant something.

She took a screenshot, just so that if she ever started getting worried, she could read that and remember that she had no need to.

**Josie: that was sweet**

**Josie: and for the record, I want to be the one for you again too**

**Pen <3😊: you’re always the one for me**

**Josie: you’re so sappy**

**Josie: I think i need to know what happened tonight**

**Pen <3😊: okay, so at first you’re gonna be really confused, and it’s totally okay if at the end you’re a little mad, but i just want you to hear me out**

Josie actually rose an eyebrow at her screen. That wasn’t altogether comforting. What was she talking about?

**Pen <3😊: so tonight i talked with maya, and i actually think that she might be worth a second chance**

**Pen <3😊: you don’t have to give her one, i know she’s been a bitch to you, but i think there’s more to her than what you’ve seen**

That definitely surprised Josie. Penelope and Maya had talked, and it hadn’t been a complete shit show? She wondered what Maya had said, and if Maya was just manipulating Penelope.

No. Penelope wasn’t stupid, and Josie knew that she was actually a pretty good judge of character. If she thought Maya was worth a second chance, then maybe Josie should listen.

**Josie: go on**

**Pen <3😊: i kinda blew up at her for being there with jade, which was a bitch move by her, i’m not defending that**

**Pen <3😊: and she said some shit to me, and it really got under my skin**

**Pen <3😊: but then she actually genuinely apologised, and we got sushi, and we talked**

**Pen <3😊: she may have spilled her entire life story to me**

That was not altogether too surprising. Penelope was very good at getting people to like her. She had a certain charm about her that even the teachers found hard to ignore, which was why she had so little work to do in all her classes.

**Josie: you’re way too good at talking to people**

**Pen <3😊: what can i say? im charming**

**Josie: you’re an idiot**

**Josie: what did you talk about besides her life story**

**Pen <3😊: you, actually**

**Josie: really? did she mention how she stole my phone for jade**

**Pen <3😊: yeah she did, and i think she feels bad for it**

**Pen <3😊: i told her to apologise to you and i think she’s going to do it**

**Josie: if it’s some manufactured bullshit im not accepting it**

**Pen <3😊: oh under no circumstances are you obligated to accept an apology if you don’t think it’s worth it**

Josie supposed that was fair. If Maya was sincere, and actually showed that she was sorry and that she wanted to change, and maybe explained herself, then Josie would accept the apology. But she wasn’t going to let herself get played.

**Josie: what else did you say about me**

**Pen <3😊: i may have gone on a rant about you, and how much i like you**

**Josie: you are such a dork**

**Pen <3😊: hey, she asked**

**Pen <3😊: she wanted to know what i saw in you, so i told her**

**Pen <3😊: i also told her the story of the first time that i saw you**

Josie had heard that story many times. Penelope loved telling it, and she always got a small nostalgic smile on her face as she remembered. Josie also remembered that day, remembered seeing the cute girl with raven hair and a turtle smile who couldn’t properly pronounce her t’s. 

**Josie: oh you love that story**

**Pen <3😊: i do indeed**

**Josie: you were such a cute kindergartener**

**Josie: what happened**

**Pen <3😊: i got hot**

**Josie: debatable**

**Pen <3😊: you called me beautiful like ten minutes ago**

**Josie: i have a fickle and indecisive mind**

**Pen <3😊: i could send you some pictures to remind you**

**Pen <3😊: but i feel that the ones i have in mind would violate this friendship thing we have going on**

Josie actually forgot how to breathe for a moment. Penelope definitely still had some…interesting photos of herself in her phone, hell, Josie definitely had some, ones which she definitely never looked at during the breakup.

Penelope really knew how to make Josie feel all those butterflies, knew how to make Josie wish that they hadn’t agreed to be friends. But no. They were just friends and Josie needed to control herself. 

**Josie: yeah it’s probably for the best that you don’t**

**Pen <3😊: are you blushing right now**

**Josie: shut up**

**Pen <3😊: you’re adroabel**

**Josie: adroabel.**

**Pen <3😊: it’s late and im tired**

**Josie: go to sleep, we’ll talk in the morning**

**Pen <3😊: but i wanna talk now**

**Josie: well then i’ll go to sleep**

**Pen <3😊: but then i’ll be lonely**

**Josie: but if you go to sleep, time will pass quickly, and you wont be lonely**

**Pen <3😊: …i hate you and your logic**

**Josie: sure you do**

**Josie: goodnight penelope**

**Josie: i’ll talk to you in the morning**

Josie suddenly remembered the book of poetry and decided to mention it to Penelope, because she knew she’d be excited about it. 

**Josie: also, i bought you a present, so be excited about that**

**Pen <3😊: how can you tell me about a present and then expect that i’m gonna be able to go to sleep**

**Josie: goodnight penelope**

**Pen <3😊: you said that already**

**Josie: and i’ll keep saying it until you say it back**

**Josie: goodnight penelope**

**Pen <3😊: you’re a dork**

**Pen <3😊: goodnight josie**

**Josie: <3**

Josie put her phone to the side and smiled. Just texting Penelope made her heart feel like it was beating out of her chest, made her feel like she was right where she was supposed to be.

She thought that maybe she was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing Posie texts is always fun, I think they'd be sappy like that!  
> Also, random side note that I felt like adding, Josie's story about discovering that she was pansexual is largely based on my own experience! When I first watched Legacies and I discovered that Josie was pan I was so excited because I could totally relate to her! So, that was kind of cool to write!  
> Next chapter, we have some plot developments, a conversation with Maya, and plenty of Posie fluff sprinkled throughout! There might be a little bit of a delay with that though, because school is starting to get stressful with assignments again.   
> Until next time, stay hydrated, and remember to keep your head up!


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everybody! I have returned with another chapter! It is Josie POV, and there is plenty of Posie content to make you smile!  
> Enjoy!

That weekend was actually pretty peaceful. Lizzie was exhausted, so she spent most of Saturday sleeping, and Penelope didn’t wake up until 2pm, so Josie spent most of the day just practicing her solos in their backyard, hoping desperately that the neighbours didn’t file a noise complaint.

Her mothers definitely filmed her at one point, but Josie didn’t really care, as long as she didn’t have to watch that video for a while. She absolutely hated watching herself perform.

According to Penelope, it was an all performers thing, and her old music teacher had told her that she needed to watch herself perform to improve, but Josie could be picky about things like that if she wanted to.

When Lizzie did wake up, Josie got the feeling that she wasn’t yet ready to discuss what they’d talked about on Friday night. And that was fair, it was one of those discussions that could only happen at night, and Josie wasn’t about to push.

Monday came at its usual speed, and Josie found herself trudging into school with Lizzie by her side once more. Lizzie was feeling antsy, because Hope had been distant over the weekend. Apparently, there was some family drama.

Josie was a bit suspicious about that. The Mikaelson’s always had family drama of some kind, even if they had settled down a bit in the past few years. She thought that maybe Hope was just in one of her moods, and that was fair as well. 

When they ran into Hope in the hallways, she was with Landon, who gave Lizzie a wide-eyed smile, the kind that told Josie that he’d just been talking about Lizzie with Hope. 

“Hey! Josie, Lizzie, how you guys going?” Landon did not have any idea on how to be subtle or non-awkward, and to be fair, Josie couldn’t particularly blame him. 

Lizzie nodded vaguely, keeping her eyes on Hope the whole time.

“Hope. Hey.” 

Josie was going to hit her head into a locker. Did her sister always have to sound so awestruck when she talked to Hope? And could she seriously not see Hope looking at her as is she was the sun?

Maybe Josie needed to get serious about locking them in a cupboard together. At least last time they’d kissed. Maybe this time they’d actually talk about their feelings. She wondered if Penelope would help her. Surely, she would, she had to be as annoyed dealing with Hope pining over Lizzie all the time.

Josie should talk to her about that.

As if Josie’s very thought had summoned her, Penelope turned the corner. Josie’s lips lifted into a smile, and then fell when she saw that Penelope wasn’t alone. Behind her, wearing a surprisingly genuine smile, was Maya.

Hope and Lizzie were currently talking about something, and had taken a few steps away from Josie and Landon, so Josie walked over to Penelope, Landon trailing behind her.  
“Hey Penelope.” She drifted her eyes over to Maya, unashamedly showing her suspicion of the other girl.

Penelope smiled at her, “Hey Jojo. I brought Maya with me; I hope that’s okay.” Penelope’s eyes asked Josie silently to speak up if it wasn’t okay. 

Josie put on the best smile she could manage.

“Yeah, that’s fine. Actually, could I speak to her for a minute?” 

Penelope looked surprised, and so did Maya, but they both nodded, and Josie headed off, hoping that Maya was following her. 

When they got to the drama room, Josie spun around. The lights were not yet on, but Maya hit the switch after closing the door, and they slowly started to flicker on. 

Josie moved her eyes away for a moment, settling on Kol’s makeshift desk, which looked emptier than it usually did. Usually he had papers and at least three coffee mugs sitting there. Now it was bare except for some framed pictures, that Josie was sure had the Mikaelson family in them.

“So, uh, what did you want to talk about?”

Josie looked back at Maya, who looked actually nervous. Maybe Penelope had been right about her wanting to be better. But Josie couldn’t just look past all the stuff she’d done. Not unless Maya was going to take accountability.

“Look. Penelope told me that you guys talked at Homecoming, and that she thinks you’re a good person and that I should give you a second chance. I told you once before that I wasn’t going to let you walk all over me, and I stand by that, so if this is a trick, I hope you know I’m not going to fall for it.”

Maya shook her head, “This isn’t a trick. This is real. I actually wanted to formally apologise for everything I’ve done. The stuff you know about and the stuff you don’t.”

The stuff that Josie didn’t know about? There was more? 

Josie folded her arms and nodded. She remembered Penelope telling her that she’d told Maya to apologise, so unless this actually felt sincere, Josie was going to take it with a grain of salt.

Maya sighed, “Ever since I knew you were my competition, I was a jerk to you. Mostly because I was threatened, because you had this way about you, that made you seem like a really talented and genuine person. So, I thought you’d be an easy target. When you got the part I wanted, I was mad, and I decided to do my best to steal the part from you.” She folded her own arms.

“I told Penelope to come back to the play because I thought she’d piss you off and you’d quit. I stole your phone for Jade to cause drama for you, so you’d quit. I even had a plan with her, although she didn’t know that I wanted to kick you out and take your spot. She just thought I was going to try and get Penelope kicked from the musical. I may have manipulated her a bit.”

“A bit?”

Maya winced, “Sorry. I really didn’t mean to break you guys up.”

Josie sighed and shook her head, “We were a long time coming, you just showcased how different our morals apparently are.” 

“Well, I took her to Homecoming, because I thought you’d be there, and I really wanted to make you mad. But then Penelope yelled at me, and I hurt her, and it all backfired.”

Josie nodded, “So, why? You torment me, endlessly, and suddenly you’re a good person?”

Maya shook her head, “I’m not instantly a good person, I know I have to work for that. I’m just telling you that I’m sorry and that I am trying.”

“Why though?”

“Because I saw my brother dancing with the boy he loves, and I saw Penelope leaving all her friends because I was too petty and I just had this moment where I realised that I wanted to be worth a genuinely happy moment, and I didn’t want to get it by stealing others away from them.”

Josie felt her resolve crumbling a little, because Maya did look actually sorry. Josie didn’t think they’d ever had a longer conversation.

“So, what are you gonna do better?”

“Well, I’m gonna focus on being good at my own part in this play. I can kill it as Taylor, I don’t need Gabriella to be seen. And I want to make friends. Penelope’s decided to trust me, for whatever reason, and I was hoping that with time, maybe we could be friends too? Because you always seemed to be nice, and well, with the way that girl talks about you? How could I not want to be friends with you?”

Josie interest was caught by the last part. Even though Penelope had told her that they’d talked about her, it was still nice hearing Maya say it.

“What did she say about me?”

Maya laughed, “She just talked about how you make her want to be the best version of herself, and how you make her feel at home. She really cares about you; I seriously don’t know why you broke up.” She stopped and held up her hands a little bit defensively. “Not that I need to know. That’s your business.”

Josie was surprised that Maya didn’t want to pry, but was thankful that she didn’t. Her relationship, or lack thereof, issues with Penelope were not something she wanted to discuss with Maya.

They weren’t even friends yet.

“Thank you for the apology, and I really do hope that you are going to be better, because it’s really frustrating having to constantly be worrying that you’re gonna stab me in the back. And, if you actually put in the effort, I think maybe I could try being friends with you,” Josie told her.

Maya gave her a nervous smile in response. 

“Thanks Josie. I know this is probably hard, because I have been kinda a dick.”

Josie shrugged, “I guess you’ll just have to be better.”

Maya smiled, wider and more confidently, “I guess I will.”

+++

Josie had been looking forwards to English the most out of any class recently. This was due to the fact that it was the class that also had Penelope. None of their other friends, just Penelope and Josie together.

Which meant Josie getting to fawn over Penelope’s ridiculously attractive knowledge in this subject. Seriously, Josie should not be nearly drooling over Penelope explaining the meaning behind a repeated motif in the film they were studying.

That lesson they were supposed to be working on their in-class presentation about themes in Macbeth. They had a substitute teacher though, so most of the kids were just messing around and playing games on their laptops. 

Penelope and Josie were at the front of the classroom, and Penelope was diligently working on her presentation. Josie, however, was working up the courage to tell Penelope that she had her present in her locker, and that she wanted to give it to her.

Really, she just wanted an excuse to talk to Penelope outside of this class that was so loud Josie could barely hear her thoughts.

“Josie?”

Josie looked up from her keyboard to see Penelope was looking at her with a crooked grin.

“What?”

“I can physically feel you thinking about me.”

Josie blushed, “I was not.”

“You totally were. What’s up?” Penelope’s grin was so familiar, and Josie could feel hundreds of memories flickering to the surface of her mind. She couldn’t help but smile back.  
Penelope rolled her eyes, “I know I’m flawless, but you actually have to answer when I ask a question, not just stare at me.”

Josie laughed, “Okay, sorry.”

“Don’t apologise, tell me what’s on your mind.”

“You know how I told you that I had a present for you?”

Penelope nodded.

“Well, I brought it to school, and I want to know if you’d like to go get it now.”

Penelope’s eyes lit up, “Now?”

“Yes, I did just say that.”

Penelope shoved her playfully, “I was clarifying.”

Josie smiled, “So, is that a yes?”

Penelope nodded, clapping her hands together, looking like a little kid. Josie looked to the substitute teacher, and made the executive decision that he would not notice if they left the classroom without asking.

They both shut their laptops and books, and quickly headed out the door, giggling as they got a few steps down the hall. 

“I think I’m a bad influence on you. You’re usually such a good student,” Penelope told Josie, who rolled her eyes in response.

“If anything, I’m the bad influence. I don’t remember the last time you didn’t get an A in English.”

“That’s easy. It was two years ago, when I had Mr Giles, and he gave me a B on my in-class essay.”

Josie snorted, shaking her head, “You would remember that exactly.”

“It was a terrible experience. Of course, I remember it.”

“Well, not all of us are as perfect as you.”

Penelope’s smile faltered, “Perfect isn’t the word I’d use.”

Josie felt her own smile falling, the happiness in her chest fading. Penelope was always so focused on all the things that she didn’t do right, on all the ways she didn’t meet some unmeetable standard.

Josie understood it, but she hated it all the same. 

“Well, perfection is insanity. And I think you’re sane, so perfect shouldn’t be the word I used. How about brilliant?”

Penelope looked at Josie as if she’d already given her the present. 

“Brilliant is a pretty good word. I’ll take it as long as you agree that you’re also brilliant.”

Usually, Josie would balk at that, would blush and say something about how she wasn’t sure, but this time, she just nodded.

“Deal.”

Penelope’s smile was enough to make Josie truly believe it.

They arrived at Josie’s locker, and after messing her code up once, due to Penelope humming a song under her breath, she opened the blue door, and unzipped her bag, searching for the book.

She’d wrapped it in brown wrapping paper, because Penelope thought that it made any present more mysterious and exciting.

Penelope tore the paper off, but she was still careful not to let any fall to the floor. When she was finished, she read the title, and then looked up with Josie.

“You got me a copy?”

“Please tell me that you don’t already have it.”

Penelope shook her head, a small smile on her face as she looked down at the book again.

“It always made me think of you, and I knew it gave me an excuse to get you to read to me.”

Josie smiled, “Well, I’ll still do that, but now you have your own copy, so you can properly read it, and tell me your favourites.”

Penelope flicked through the pages, stopping on one as if she already knew what it would hold. Then she cleared her throat and read

“I had no time to hate, because the grave would hinder me, and life was not so ample I could finish enmity. Nor had I tie to love; but since some industry must be, this little toil of love, I thought, was large enough for me,” she finished, shutting the book to look back up at Josie.

Josie was speechless for a moment. Penelope’s poetry voice was so magical. She read the words like every one had meaning, like each one had a life. 

“That’s one of her more well-known poems,” Josie told her, trying to find any better words to use.

“For a good reason. It’s a good poem,” Penelope replied with a teasing smile.

Josie just blushed, “I’m glad you liked the present. And you know, even if it’s hard to show it, whatever you’re willing to give me, it’s enough for me. You are enough, for me, for everything in this world, and you should know that," Josie told her. 

Penelope nodded, her eyes filling with a soft look that was reserved for Josie. The look that could be categorised as love, if that word wouldn’t turn the look to fear.

“And you’re enough for me. At every moment in time, you were enough," Penelope replied. 

Josie smiled and nodded. Somehow, every time Penelope said those words, they sounded just a bit truer. Maybe one day she’d be able say them herself, and believe them with every beat of her heart.

“Okay. Now, we should get back to class, or we’ll get in trouble. And you know that simply won’t do,” Penelope said with a grin, and Josie knew that she was just trying to stop herself from being a bit too open.

It was okay. One day she wouldn’t fear it. And Josie would be there. She was certain of that.

“I don’t know. The idea of a detention sounds fun.”

Penelope snorted, “You’ve never had one in your life, clearly. You do a worksheet about how you fucked up and how you’re sorry, and then you sit in silence in a room.”

“Right, because you’re such a rebel.”

“The most daring rebel that you will ever meet, and don’t you ever forget it.”

+++

Josie was always grateful for her last period free on Monday. It meant that she could just take a breather from all the classes after the first day back, and she could also get a start on some of her homework before rehearsal.

She also shared this particular free with Penelope, which meant they could hang out now. And, because they were both pretty academically motivated, they would actually do their work, as well as occasionally talk.

So, there she was, sitting next to Penelope in the library, both of them smiling about Ethan and Landon, and how they’d been sitting together at recess and lunch, and how they both seemed to be pretty happy.

Josie still remembered going to school with Penelope as her girlfriend for the first time. Still remembered the flower pattern on Penelope’s blouse, and the smell of her perfume. Remembered the fuzziness in her stomach, and the nervous smiles on both their face, the way Penelope’s hand had felt in hers.

They’d held hands before, they were best friends, it was just what they did, but that had been different. Penelope’s hand had become livewire, and it reminded Josie of how that hand had softly gripped her face, as Penelope’s lips had touched hers.

Penelope asked her, as they sat there in that library, why Josie was smiling like that, and she’d just been about to tell her, when Penelope’s face had soured. It only twisted into that specific expression she had for only one person, and Josie’s heart sank as well.

She turned her head to see Jade standing at the entrance of the library. The two hadn’t really spoken since the breakup, which Josie was extremely fine with. She had missed Jade, just a bit, but not enough to seek her out.

It seemed that Jade didn’t have the same thoughts, because she was just now making her way over to their table.

Penelope’s posture stiffened, and Josie saw the mask sliding across her face. It took everything in her to not reach out and squeeze Penelope’s hand, to remind her that she didn’t need to be jealous. She’d never really liked Penelope’s jealousy. Because really, how could Penelope misjudge her so badly to think that she’d want anyone else?

“Josie.” Jade’s voice was soft yet urgent. Penelope looked half a second away from answering for Josie, but her eyes darted to Josie, and she held herself back.

Josie turned to Jade, meeting her eyes, which was a mistake, because there was just too much emotion there, and Josie didn’t want to handle any of it. 

“What do you want Jade?” She quickly averted her gaze.

“Can we talk?”

Josie wasn’t sure what there was that was left unsaid, and she was close to rejecting her, but her curiosity and her kindness got the better of her.

“Sure.”

Penelope gave her a glance full of confusion and a touch of annoyance, but Josie ignored it as she stood. 

She followed Jade out to the empty corridor. It was almost funny how she’d done this with Penelope earlier, but it had felt so much more intimate then. Now, she just felt slightly uncomfortable. 

“Okay, say what you need to say.” Josie folded her arms and stepped back.

Jade sighed, “I fucked up.”

“Yeah, I think I figured that out.”

“Josie, can you just…hear me out?”

Josie looked at Jade, and there was so much pleading in her eyes and voice, so Josie relented.

“Yeah, okay. You did fuck up, and I’m glad that you realised it.”

Jade nodded, chewing her lip, “I was jealous and stupid, and Maya manipulated me, and I thought that it would be fine if you never found out. But that was fucked up, and I’m really sorry.”

Josie sighed, letting her arms drop, “To be fair, you had every right to be jealous.”

“Are you two together?” Jade sounded actually hurt by that idea, and it made Josie feel guilty. Jade may have had a messed-up way of showing it, but she did actually love Josie.

Josie shook her head, “No, we decided to be friends.”

Jade nodded slowly, “But you still love her, don’t you? It was always her.”

Josie knew that last time they’d had this conversation, she’d completely ignored Jade’s every reference to Penelope. But this time, she was brave enough to be honest.

“Yes. I do. And I really am sorry about that. I shouldn’t have led you on, knowing that I still loved her.”

Jade sighed, “I get it. You wanted to move on. I just don’t get why it had to be me.”

“It was you because you were nice and you made me smile. You made some of the pain go away, and you made me feel like I truly could do amazing things. And I am thankful for that. But I don’t think I could have loved you. Not the way you deserve to be loved.” Josie may have been pissed at Jade, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t wish her well.

Jade smiled at Josie sadly, “So, I’m assuming that this is it? There’s no chance that we’re getting back together, and I really need to just move on?”

Josie nodded, “Yeah. That would probably be for the best.”

Jade looked down at her feet and pushed her hands into her jacket. The two of them stood in silence for a moment.

“Josie?” Jade didn’t look up as she spoke.

“Yeah?”

Jade lifted her head, sincerity in her eyes.

“Whatever I think about Penelope, and whatever jealousy stopped me from seeing the truth, I think she’s yours. And you’re happy to be hers as well.”

“How do you know?”

Jade laughed. “Because in the past few weeks, I think I’ve seen you smile more genuinely than you ever did with me. Don’t fuck up; you’ll regret it.”

Josie wasn’t quite sure what to do with the fact that her ex thought that her and Penelope were good for each other, or the fact that she wanted them to be together, but she decided to take it as good advice. After all, Jade did have experience with messing up with someone she loved, didn’t she?

“Thanks Jade,” Josie said quietly. 

Jade smiled, and even though it didn’t reach her eyes, and even though Josie could feel the pain hidden behind it, she was glad that they weren’t on awful terms anymore. Plus, Jade had apologised, and she did seem to mean it.

Josie awkwardly smiled and turned around, making her way back to the library.

Penelope was sitting at the desk, with her earplugs in, staring stone-faced at her laptop. Josie slid in next to her and looked at her.

Penelope didn’t look back. 

Right, so that meant that Penelope was being jealous and moody because of Jade. That simply would not do, because Josie wasn’t going to deal with that.

So, she poked Penelope’s shoulder.

Penelope didn’t move.

Josie sighed and rested a hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently. 

Penelope tugged one earplug out of her ear by the string and turned to look at Josie sharply.

“What?”

“Are you mad at me?”

Penelope’s expression didn’t shift, “Of course not. That’d be stupid.”

Josie sighed, “Penelope—”

“Josie, I have work to do, so can you please not interrupt me?”

Josie just stared at her, willing for Penelope to soften. Penelope just stared back, raising an eyebrow as if asking Josie what she wanted.

Josie sighed, “I just wanted to tell you that Jade and I just talked about how she fucked up, and I told her in no uncertain terms, that we are not getting back together. So, if you’re jealous, that really would be stupid.”

Penelope’s frown shifted, not to a smile, more like the object of her mood had changed. She turned back to her laptop.

“I know.” Her voice sounded tiny, and Josie detected just a touch of guilt. She could have pushed, but something told her that right now was not a good time. But she would not be letting this go unaddressed. Perhaps tonight, she’d check in.

For now, she should just continue her work.

+++

When Josie was waiting for rehearsal, she decided to stay in the library, and Penelope decided to go and find Landon, saying something about how they were working on some song for the show.

Josie told her that she was excited to see whatever it was that they were working on, and Penelope gave her a genuine smile, and told her that Josie would be the first one to see it.

So, Josie felt a bit better about their small argument earlier, and was able to continue with a clearer head. Penelope had definitely just gotten jealous about Jade, and she’d also probably been hurt by Jade. Which reminded Josie that she’d never actually gotten the full story about what Jade had told Penelope that had led to the split lip. 

The version she’d heard though, did not put Jade in a brilliant light.

Josie texted Hope, asking if she wanted to come to the library to keep Josie company, but she didn’t get a reply. That was a bit strange. Hope was usually one of the best of out her friends at responding, she was practically attached to her phone.

She was probably with Lizzie. Who knew, maybe they’d started making out in a closet somewhere. Not the most romantic place, but beggars couldn’t be choosers, and the school closets were actually nice. They smelt a bit like cleaning supplies, but there was a fair amount of space. And they had lighting as well.

Not that Josie would know anything about making out in supply closets at school. No, she would never do that. She just knew these things because she’d needed to get stuff from the closets for teachers. 

Obviously.

Where was Josie going with that train of thought?

Oh, right, her sister and Hope. Gross.

Josie checked her watch, and realised that she should probably just pack up and head to rehearsal. MG and Rafael might be there already, and she could hang out with them. 

As she was making her way down the hallway, she saw Hope’s bright red head bobbing as she strode away. Josie put on some speed, and lightly jogged up to meet Hope.

“Hope, hey, I’ve been texting you.”

Hope stopped and turned, looking at Josie less with surprise and more with worry. Josie slowed down and frowned.

“Is everything alright? You look kinda stressed.”

Hope chewed her lip. Josie reached out and placed a hand on her arm. 

“Is it about Lizzie?”

Hope shook her head, “No. well not exactly, though I may have annoyed her with my ‘incessant worrying and inability to share my thoughts’.”

Yeah that sounded like something Lizzie would say. And it sounded like something Hope would do.

“Well, I’m sure if you just tell her, it’ll be fine. Plus, it can’t be that bad.”

Hope looked up at her, and when Josie saw the look in her eyes, she realised that it might actually be that bad.

“Kol’s losing his job.”

Oh shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CLIFFHANGER!  
> Do not fear though! I can tell you that all hope is not lost for Kol's position at the school!   
> If you were wondering about the poem, that is indeed a poem written by Emily Dickinson, I recently purchased a book of her poems, and I thought that Penelope and Josie would definitely be the couple who read poems to each other!  
> Next up, we have Penelope being generally stressed about a lot of things, and also some cute Posie, because we do need that!  
> As I am currently Going Through It with school and just life in general, I think I might stick to one chapter a week, just until things calm down a little!   
> Until next time, I hope your lives are going well, and if not, I hope you find a reason to smile soon!


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello to the ten of you who still read this fic! Your weekly update is here, with drama within the drama kids, and Posie being soft!  
> Enjoy!

Penelope was being an idiot. She knew she was. Being jealous over Jade was so stupid. And it wasn’t even like Josie was hers to be jealous over. Sure, they’d confessed feelings, and they were close, but they were technically still friends.

Penelope had told her not to wait. Penelope had made it explicitly clear that Josie didn’t have to wait. Yeah, she had said that she wanted Josie to wait, but she wouldn’t hold it against her.

It was just Jade, really. She was the one that Josie had chosen to replace Penelope with the first time around. She’d had Josie, she’d made her smile, had made Josie happy. Jade wasn’t some random possible person in the future.

She was real, and Josie had gone to speak with her in private.

Also, she’d said so much shitty stuff to Penelope, and she’d fucked over Josie. If Josie forgave her and they got back together, Penelope didn’t know what she’d do. She didn’t know if she could physically take it.

She was being stupid though. Josie didn’t want Jade; she’d made it clear to Penelope. But Penelope’s jealousy and insecurity loved teaming up, and it was so hard to fight.

Josie had come back, and Penelope seriously regretted being a dick to her when she did. She just didn’t want to be the idiot constantly asking for reassurance. So, it was easier to be sarcastic and pretend that she couldn’t care less.

Except it came out less like that and more actively hostile.

Josie hadn’t been upset, she’d just told Penelope calmly that she’d rejected Jade again, and had tried her best to comfort Penelope. So, everything should’ve been fine, right?

Nope. Because then Penelope had just gotten mad at herself for being jealous, and she’d wrapped herself in her work. 

At least she’d managed a smile when she left. 

Working with Landon on the song was good. He’d always been just a touch better at guitar than she was, and she’d been better with words. Even though they were just adapting a song that had already been written for the play, Penelope still was better at figuring out exactly what emotion they wanted.

They finished up, with their reimagining almost done when rehearsal was set to start. They’d mentioned it to Kol a few weeks ago, and he’d told them that if they came up with a finished product, he’d consider it.

Penelope was pretty proud of her and Landon. And she hoped that Kol would be too.

When they got to rehearsal to find that Kol wasn’t there yet, Penelope wasn’t surprised. He never showed up on time. It was part of his charm, even if it could be annoying at times.

Josie, Hope, and Lizzie weren’t there yet either, which was a bit strange. Usually they’d be there, because Penelope would tease Hope, and gently flirt with Josie.

Speaking of Josie, she still needed to apologise for earlier.

“Are you good? Because you just got your ‘thinking about Josie face’.”

Penelope absently swatted at Landon. 

“Don’t be a dick.”

“I’m not being a dick. I’m just saying that you’re thinking about Josie.” When Penelope didn’t say anything in retaliation, he grinned. “You’re definitely thinking about Josie.”

Penelope sighed, “I was kind of a jerk to her earlier.”

“Well at least you realised it.”

“I was being jealous and insecure, and I sort of lashed out a bit.”

“How bad are we talking?”

“Not too bad. I was just cold, and I didn’t really talk to her much after.”

He nodded, “Right, and what exactly are you being jealous about?”

“She talked to Jade.”

Understanding dawned in his eyes. 

“Ah, that makes sense. But you know that she kinda hates Jade, right?”

Penelope nodded, “That’s what makes it so stupid. I just don’t trust Jade.”

“Josie loves you.” Penelope stopped herself before she flinched, and felt just a bit proud of herself.

“I know. I’m just stupid.”

“No, you’re traumatised. As a foster kid myself, I know a bit about not knowing how to trust in love. Why do you think I found it so hard to ask out Ethan?”

“Because you’re a lame dumbass bisexual.”

He slapped her arm, “I’m trying to be heartfelt.”

“You can try that, but I’m bad with emotions.”

He smiled, “No, you’re just deflecting.”

She sighed and shoved her hands in her pockets.

“A little.”

“I get it. It’s fine, let’s just talk about something else.”

Penelope was feeling a bit fragile, for no real reason, so she let him change the subject. 

“Where the hell is Hope? It’s not like her to be late.”

Penelope searched the room, and when she didn’t find Josie, felt her heart ache. She made eye contact with Maya, and when Penelope nodded, she crossed the room to meet them.

“Hey guys. What’s up?”

Landon had been filled in about the fact that Maya was getting a second chance, and due to the fact that he was now dating her twin, he was fairly open to that, so he gave Maya a smile.

“We’re wondering where everyone is.”

She nodded, frowning as well, “Yeah, isn’t Kol usually the one to harp on about punctuality? He’s nearly ten minutes late.”

“And where’s Josie?” 

Maya snorted, “You would be focused on your girl.”

“Yeah, I would be.”

“Whipped.”

“Shut up,” Penelope grumbled. 

Landon grinned at Maya, “She’s so lame, isn’t she? Seriously, I’ve had to deal with this for so long.”

Maya nodded, “She’s secretly a sap. I’ve heard her spill so much about Josie, seriously, it’s embarrassing.”

“Totally.”

Penelope waved a hand to shut them both up, because Josie had just entered the room with Hope and Lizzie. She was about to greet them with a smile, when she saw they all wore identical expressions of worry.

“Are they okay?” Maya sounded actually concerned, and Penelope saw Landon frowning at them as well. 

Penelope forced a hopeful smile, “I’m sure it’s fine. I’m just gonna go talk to them.”

She patted Landon’s shoulder and headed off.

Josie was the first to notice her heading over to them, and when she didn’t even perk up when she saw Penelope, Penelope knew it was bad. Josie always had a smile for her these days.

“What happened?” She asked, her voice low.

Josie looked at Hope, who stepped forwards.

“You can’t tell anyone,” Hope whispered. 

“Yeah, duh, now tell me. I’m kinda worried.”

Hope stepped closer, her eyes darting furtively around the room, and then she spoke.

“Kol’s just getting out of a meeting with the school. They’re putting him on hearing in two days, and it does not look good.”

No. This couldn’t be happening.

Kol could not be losing his job.

He was one of the teachers who really believed in Penelope, not just in her grades, or her intelligence, but in her as a person. And without him, this play wouldn’t have the same life. Without him, this show wouldn’t go on.

No matter how hard they tried to make it. 

He couldn’t be leaving. Penelope needed him here. Josie needed him; this was supposed to be her big year. She was supposed to finally be the star, to finally get the spotlight. They couldn’t be taking this away.

“What the fuck happened,” Penelope hissed, but Hope didn’t get to answer her, as Kaleb came through the door that the girls had just entered through.

“Hey everyone, sorry I’m late. Kol isn’t here today, but he wanted me to run this rehearsal.”

A few groans rose from the students at that.

“Where the hell is he?” Alyssa was sitting to the side with Kym and Wendy, all looking rather sceptical.

Kaleb shrugged, but the look in his eyes told Penelope that he knew exactly where Kol was. 

“Look, that doesn’t matter. You know him, he’s a busy dude. What we need to do, is to keep up the rehearsal while he isn’t here.”

Alyssa huffed, but no one else offered complaints so Kaleb waved a hand to tell them to gather around. Some people pushed themselves off of where they were seated to form a lazy circle, but most just stayed where they were.

Hope, Josie, Lizzie, and Penelope joined the circle, and Kaleb gave them a thankful smile. MG hopped up next to Kaleb, assuming his position as the stage manager of the play. He was smiling, but there was uncertainty in his eyes.

Coming from MG, who was usually a pretty upbeat person, that was worrying.

But Penelope couldn’t worry about this now. She needed this to be okay. She needed to hope that there was a plan.

“Alright, now today, Kol wanted us to run through When Then Was Me and You. MG and I have had some ideas for this scene, and we need you guys to listen.”

Ideas being offered by students while there was no teacher present? She was glad that Kaleb had a strong backbone and didn’t take any shit.

MG stepped forwards, and started to speak.

“So, our idea is that as Gabriella sings about her broken heart at the hands of Troy, she is surrounded by all the male characters on stage, sort of like a forest of boys.”

Penelope loved MG, but she was finding it hard to not laugh at that phrasing.

“A forest of boys? What the hell is that?” Maya sounded rather mocking, so Penelope sent her a quick glare, reminding her that she was meant to be nice right now. Maya gave her what seemed to be an attempt at an apologetic smile.

Penelope sighed and looked back to MG, who looked a little sick.

“Well…can you imagine a forest?”

“Yes.”

“Well that, but with boys.”

A few people giggled, obviously deciding that they could slack off now that Kol wasn’t there to make them take it seriously. Penelope tried to find them and glare at them as best she could.

“Why would we do that? She just got her heart broken by Troy, because he betrayed her for his teammates, why would she want all of them on stage as she sings?” Penelope was surprised that Josie was speaking up, but was proud of her. She was never usually one to voice her opinions.

It was good to see her finding her voice.

“She’s haunted by the boys, they’re everywhere she goes.”

Lizzie snorted, “Well, no offence Milton, but that is a terrible idea.”

A few people mumbled in assent, and both Penelope and Josie gave Lizzie a look of annoyance. Calmly debating ideas was one thing, outright shutting them down and insulting them was another.

And with Kol not here, everything was on a fine line leading to utter chaos.

Leave it to Lizzie to be the one who sparked it.

“What if Gabriella was surrounded by the girls, like a forest of supportive sisters?” Maya suggested from the chair where she was sitting.

“I like that,” Kym piped up.

MG looked to Kaleb who sighed and stepped forwards, “Guys, these are all good ideas, but for now, can we please stick to what we have planned?”

“Why? We clearly have some better ideas here,” Alyssa pointed out.

“Well, Penelope and I have an idea for it as well,” Landon spoke up. Penelope had never wanted to backhand him into a wall harder. Now was not the time to be addressing this.

“What’s the idea?” Maya looked genuinely interested, and Penelope thought she heard a small scoff from Josie behind her.

With all eyes in the room on her, Penelope felt as if there was no choice but to tell them the idea.

“We’ve been coming up with a sort of acoustic version, so it would just be her on the stage, but none of the pop or flare in the original version.”

Maya nodded appreciatively, and Josie gave her an interested look, but a few people muttered disapprovingly.

“Boring, I like the sisters idea,” Lizzie commented. 

“Well, no one asked for your opinion,” Penelope snapped, feeling that pressure rising up in her chest again. Josie quietly admonished her, which she supposed was fair. Starting fights wasn’t going to get them anywhere. She had to close her eyes and take a breath, before turning to face Lizzie.

When she caught sight of Lizzie’s clenched fists, that were shaking, she realised what was happening. Lizzie was also stressed about all of this, and she was lashing out.

“Look, maybe we should just stick with what has been planned,” Penelope tried to reason.

“You may be cool with that, but to be fair, I really like everyone else’s ideas.”

Jade. Now was really not the time.

“Jade’s right, Pen, we shouldn’t confine ourselves to be one thing, right?” 

Maya. Please, for the love of all that was good, learn how to read a room.

“To be perfectly honest, I think all of you have shit ideas, and this is a shit rehearsal,” Alyssa added. Penelope was starting to think that she just wanted to stir up drama.

“Maybe we should just stick to the script,” Landon started but Lizzie cut him off.

“No one asked, bird boy,” Lizzie scoffed.

“Hey, that was one time.”

“She’s right, though. Your ideas are trash,” Alyssa said with a glare. 

“Hey, don’t talk to my boyfriend like that.”

Half the room turned to look at Ethan, who had stood up from where he was sitting at the piano. He blushed and sat down. 

“I think this is getting out of hand,” Kym tried to say, but Alyssa scoffed.

“You would think that, your brother is the student director.”

“Yeah, I am, so listen to me.”

“Not if you paid me.”

“Shut up Alyssa, no one asked you to be here.”

“No one asked you either bitch barbie.”

“I will not hesitate to rip your hair out hair by hair.”

“Guys maybe we should—”

“We should just vote on the ideas, we’ve got some good se—”

“What are you gonna do about it, you pat—”

“Hey, maybe you guys shoul—”

“News flash, no one li—”

“Everyone shut the fuck up!”

Silence fell on the room like sound itself had been sucked out of everyone’s chests.

Hope stepped forth from where she’d been standing in silence and surveyed everyone in the room with a glare.

“You wanna act like children? Go ahead. But this might be the last rehearsal we have, so do you really want to waste it?”

Landon frowned, “What are you talking about Hope?”

Hope scoffed and shook her head, “Kol’s getting fired.”

Shock burst into everyone’s eyes. Mg turned to look at Kaleb, mouthing something incomprehensible. Lizzie looked at Hope, worry clear in her eyes.

Josie didn’t meet Penelope’s eyes.

“What’s happening?” Penelope took it upon herself to ask.

Hope looked up at her and sighed.

“Apparently, he embellished some details on his resume. He doesn’t actually have the teaching credits or great roles that he told the school he did. So, they’re firing him.”

The mood in the room was lower than Penelope had ever felt it. Usually there was at least one person smiling, or some sense of hope.

Now there was nothing.

This was real. 

Hope sighed, “I’m leaving. This rehearsal is a lost cause.” She turned and grabbed her bag heading out the door. The sound of it slamming was a catalyst for everyone else in the room.

Bags were yanked off of desk, conversations broke out across the room. Penelope turned to find Maya next to her, looking concerned.

“Do you think it’s true? He’s getting fired?”

“Hope’s pretty pissed. It’s not easy to get her like this. I think it’s real.”

Maya chewed at her lip, “This musical can’t be over. They wouldn’t just…stop it, would they?”

“No, probably not. They’d get a new drama teacher, and they’d direct for the rest of it. But it would come out completely different, and let’s be real, drama teachers are pretty hit or miss. We might just end up with an English teacher.”

Maya laughed, more out of worry than actual mirth, Penelope suspected.

“It would be kind of funny for Mr Griffith to direct this play.”

Penelope snorted, thinking about that concept. He was a good teacher, but he didn’t have the same energy that Kol did. He was a lot harsher, a lot less accepting of mistakes. 

“Yeah, well, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

Maya tilted her head to the side, “This rehearsal seems like it’s really over. You want a ride home?”

Penelope was about to take her up on the offer, when she remembered Josie. She needed to talk to her. A quick glance around the room showed that she was gone.

“Thanks, but I’m gonna catch up with Josie.”

Maya winced, “Yeah, I think she might want me dead.”

“What? Why?”

“I’m not sure, but she did glare at me a fair bit during that rehearsal.”

Penelope was a bit worried about that, but she was sure that it was just Josie being stressed. She explained as much.

Maya nodded, but didn’t seem entirely convinced.

“Right, well, I’m going home. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Penelope nodded, and let Maya leave the room. She pulled out her phone.

**Penelope: hey jojo, if you haven’t left, do you think you could come back to the drama room?**

**Penelope: i just wanted to check how you were and i think i’m gonna stay here for a bit.**

She could go home, obviously, but she really didn’t want to. This place felt more welcoming to her than her own house these days. Going here after school, hanging out with the cast, playing as Troy, well, it was something that had quickly become part of her life, and she wasn’t sure if she was ready to let it go quite yet.

But she might have to.

And Penelope still couldn’t handle that.

So, she pulled out her guitar, the one she’d brought to play with Landon today, and started fiddling with some notes.

She found herself strumming a song, and started humming along, not quite sure what it was. It sounded nice though. It was happy, and for some reason, it made her chest feel funny. Sort of like an ache, no, more like longing.

She played the next chord and laughed when she realised what it was. It was Josie’s song, the one that she’d written for her, the one that Penelope had played at auditions. She was glad that she still remembered it, she definitely had plans to pull this out at a time when her and Josie were happier.

She changed the song to Neptune by Sleeping at Last. It was a song that she’d always thought captured how she felt about Josie. That feeling of wanting to love someone, wanting to tell the truth, but not knowing how, and wondering if you were just too broken to do so. She could not tell you how many times she’d listened to this over the summer, tears probably streaming down her face.

“That’s really nice.”

Penelope turned to the doorway, to find Josie leaning against it. She looked tired, and her smile only partially reached her eyes, but at least she was smiling.

“Yeah, I’ve always liked it.”

Josie walked in and sat down across from where Penelope was sitting on the floor. They both stared at each other, and then Josie laughed.

“What?” Penelope gave her a perplexed smile. 

“I don’t know, I just think it’s funny to see you sitting here with your guitar. It’s so…normal. Like this whole play hasn’t completely been destroyed.”

Those words sobered the room and Penelope’s smile slid off her face. Josie’s eyes faded a bit as well.

“He lied to us,” Penelope said, calmly, even if she felt so not calm about this at all. To be fair though, she didn’t know what she was feeling. She just felt numb.

Perhaps that was just her body’s response to anything remotely stressful or upsetting. To just shut down all emotions. It wasn’t really the best way to operate, but it was normal now.

“He did,” Josie confirmed, chewing her lip so hard that Penelope wouldn’t be surprised to see marks later.

“This was supposed to be our year. To be your year.”

Josie shrugged, eyes full of resignation, “It would happen, wouldn’t it? The one time I’m supposed to be in the spotlight, to finally have my moment, and it gets snatched away.”

“It’s not fair.”

“Life isn’t fair.”

Penelope chuckled, “Awfully cynical coming from you.”

“Well, I feel cynical.” She looked at Penelope’s guitar. “So, you and Landon had an acoustic version of When There Was Me and You?”

Penelope groaned, “That boy talks too much.”

Josie grinned, and tapped the bottom of the guitar, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Penelope shrugged, feeling nervous for some reason. It was Josie, she shouldn’t be nervous. 

“I, uh, I don’t know. I guess I was just worried that it was a dumb idea.”

Josie scoffed, “It’s one of your ideas, of course it’ll be great.”

“Not as great as a forest of sisters, apparently,” Penelope muttered bitterly. She was still a bit irked at Lizzie’s behaviour during the rehearsal. Even if she was struggling with the stress, could she at least try her best not to contribute to it?

Josie sighed and leaned back, “Lizzie’s on edge. I think it’s because Hope’s stressed, and she doesn’t know how to get control of this situation. Lizzie likes it best when there’s something she can do to fix things.”

Penelope sighed, thinking of how that was pretty understandable. She was also of the opinion that it was always best to have total control of a situation. No control was stressful. It meant that unexpected things could happen, and they could fuck Penelope up.

Like Kol leaving.

Deciding to shake off those thoughts, Penelope stood up, adjusting her guitar strap, and fiddled with the strings.

“What are you doing?” Josie tilted her head to the side, looking a bit like a puppy dog. Penelope smiled.

“I’m going to perform for you. That way, you can decide if my idea is good or not.” Penelope didn’t really know why she was doing it. Maybe she was hungry for validation, or maybe she just needed one thing to go well for her today. 

She strummed the chords, and looked down at Josie. Josie beamed up at her, even going so far as to throw her a dorky thumbs up. Penelope’s heart swelled with affection and she began to sing.

“I thought you were my fairy-tale, my dream when I’m not sleeping…” she sang, trying to lose herself in the song. To lose herself in the feeling of loving someone and then losing track of what had really been the truth.

She figured that wasn’t too hard to do.

Josie just watched her, eyes wide, like Penelope was the brightest star in the sky, and all she wanted to do was make a wish upon her.

Penelope looked away, because otherwise she might start crying, and kept singing. She’d spent so long working on this with Landon that it was easy now. It was just like Josie’s song; it was second nature. 

She finished, slapping her hand down on the strings lightly to give it emphasis. Josie smiled and clapped. Penelope did a joking bow.

“Thank you, you’re too kind.”

Josie rolled her eyes, “You just wanted validation, didn’t you?”

“Maybe. But you’ll never know.” Penelope sat back down on the ground and smiled at Josie.

“So, you really liked it?”

Josie nodded, “I thought it illustrated how Troy brought music into Gabriella’s life, and when he was gone, all she was left with was that. It made it all the more heart-breaking.”

Penelope grinned, heart beating just a touch too fast, “Cool.”

“You’re a dork.”

“You’re the one who applauded for me.”

“I thought you needed just a bit of an ego boost, especially after this afternoon.”

It took Penelope a moment to figure out what Josie was talking about, and then she winced when she realised.

“Right. I’m sorry about that, I don’t know why I acted like that.”

Josie laughed, shaking her head, “You were jealous. I remember how jealous you got.”

“And I remember that you hated it. So, I’m sorry.”

Josie sighed, “I get it though. Jade is literally my ex-girlfriend, and she asked to speak with me in private. I get that you’d be a bit concerned, especially since she still has feelings for me.”

Penelope tried her best not to be annoyed by hearing that out loud.

“But you don’t have anything to be worried about, okay?”

Penelope shrugged, keeping her eyes down, “It’s not like I have anything to be jealous about either. We’re friends, and I have told you multiple times that I don’t have to be your choice.”

Josie laughed, “True. But I’ve told you multiple times that I kind of want you to be my choice. And I’ll tell you again. Jade is my past. I know she pissed you off, and you have every right to be mad at her, but don’t be jealous, because I’m not going back to her.”

Penelope smiled, just the slightest bit, “Okay.”

“Good.” Josie turned to look at the room around them and sighed. “This place has always felt a bit like home, you know? Even when I was just a lowly chorus girl, it was a place I could go and have people who were there doing what they enjoyed. It always made me happy.”

Penelope nodded, keeping her eyes on Josie, “I know. You always smiled the brightest whenever you got to be here, with the people you loved.”

Josie sighed, “This really was meant to be my chance, wasn’t it?”

Penelope looked at her, looked at the dejection in her eyes, the resignation, the hurt, and felt like she was being stabbed. This was Josie. She shouldn’t be in pain. She deserved this chance more than anyone.

This wasn’t just a place for Penelope and Josie to be happy though, it was all of them. Lizzie got to do makeup, and be something other than the girl who had breakdowns in tests. Hope could be something more than a loner, Landon could have friends, even Maya and Ethan, the new kids, they’d gotten people who understood them immediately.

This play was a safe space for all of them. A chance for them to flourish, and be seen for their talents, not their faults.

Penelope usually ran from things when they got hard. She got scared, she shut down, she pretended the problem didn’t exist. She did it with her parents, she did it with Josie, and she’d done it at Homecoming.

But she wouldn’t do it this time. She couldn’t do it this time.

She pulled out her phone and started typing.

“What are you doing?” Josie frowned.

Penelope shook her head, “We can’t let this go. This is our chance, this is everyone’s chance, we can’t let it go.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’ve always hated the system; I think it’s time we actually revolted against it.”

“Why do I feel nervous?”

“You shouldn’t. We’re saving this play.”

Josie’s frown didn’t lift, but she moved closer to Penelope.

“Okay, so what’s the plan?”

Penelope stopped typing for a moment.

“We need to figure out what’s happening at that hearing in two days time. Then, we need to figure out a way to change the tides. We’re gonna need everyone for that. So, we need leaders. And I know exactly who they should be.”

**Penelope added Lizzie, Hoe, kaleb says acab, and Alyssa to a chat.**

**Penelope: alright fuckers we’re saving this play.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When Penelope has a plan, it's best to just let her do what she needs to do!  
> The song I mentioned in the chapter is really nice, and I think it does describe what Penelope is feeling very well!  
> For the next chapter, we have Josie POV and the drama kids putting their collective three (3) brain cells together to save the play! And of course, Posie!  
> Thanks to the few of you who always leave a comment on my chapters! It's always nice to see what you guys have to say!  
> Until next time, remember to find happy moments in your days!


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's time for your weekly dose of Posie content! We've got dumb drama kids and soft Posie flirting at all times!  
> Enjoy!

Penelope was on a determined streak. And in Josie’s opinion, it was really fucking hot.

She knew what she wanted to do, and she was going to do it. There was this fire in her eyes, a fury like this was one fight she wouldn’t let go. 

They’d sat on the stage for a while as Penelope had frantically texted the chat. Eventually, the people on the chat had come to an agreement; the cast needed to meet up, and they needed to have a serious discussion about this.

Hope had told them that Kol wasn’t at the Mikaelson residence at the moment, that it was only her parents, Camille, and Elijah there at the moment, as her aunts were in their own houses.

So, they’d decided to meet there. It had enough space, and the Mikaelson’s weren’t the type of family to ask questions.

They’d gone to the main chat for their play, and they’d told them about the meeting. The plan was for it to go for most of the night, and that if they were serious about this, they should know that.

At some point during this, Penelope had started driving her and Josie to Hope’s place, and Josie had started texting for the two of them. When they got to Hope’s place, Lizzie was already there. Josie suspected that she’d been calming Hope down after her outburst, but she didn’t say anything.

Slowly, people on the chat started agreeing to turn up. In the end, pretty much everyone agreed to come, apart from a few of the younger members, and some who had tests the next day.

The four of them waited in the courtyard for the rest of the cast. None of them spoke, but Josie could see the other three planning what they were going to do when everyone arrived. She’d already decided to let them handle this.

Josie had never been a leader. Hope was the one who inspired loyalty in others, Lizzie knew how to get people to get fired up, and Penelope had the dedication to do whatever it took. Between the three of them, Josie had hope that their play would be in the best possible hands. 

And of course, Kaleb and Alyssa. Kaleb was needed, because he knew the play best, he already knew how to pull something like this together. And Alyssa, well, if she was on your side, people tended to listen. Josie wasn’t sure if she inspired fear or awe, but whichever it was, she was finally thankful for it.

Eventually, they all were gathered in the courtyard. Some sat on the chairs or couches available, and some leaned on the pillars. Those who had been in the original group chat were in the middle.

Alyssa lounged in a chair, Kaleb stood, fiddling with a ring on his hand, and Lizzie and Hope shared a couch, with Penelope leaning against it. 

Josie sat with MG on another couch, both of them anxiously waiting for whatever this was to begin.

Kaleb scanned the courtyard, and gave Penelope a nod. She nodded back and Josie watched her chest rise as she took a deep breath, her eyes closing momentarily. When they opened, they found Josie.

When Josie saw the fear and uncertainty in Penelope’s eyes, she nodded, smiling and trying her best to convey just how much she believed that Penelope could do this. Even if she wasn’t sure what this was. She just knew that Penelope had the strength to lead them.

Penelope smiled back, and her back straightened. She cleared her throat.

“Alright, let’s get started,” Penelope announced. She turned her head to Hope, who sighed and stood.

“We’ve gathered you here, because we all know that Kol is losing his job, and if he does that, this play is as good as lost. It’s his vision, he should be here to see it through.”

Scattered murmurs ran through the crowd. A voice from behind Josie spoke up,

“He lied on his resume. He basically jeopardised this whole play. Maybe we would be better with a new director.”

Josie turned to see that Wendy was the one who’d spoken up. She was sitting on a chair next to Jade, and neither of them looked particularly happy to be here. Josie wondered why they’d even come.

Lizzie voiced as much, “Why are you here if you don’t want to keep Kol?”

“Because if we’re making decisions about the future of this play, I want a say.”

A few others murmured their agreement at that. Kaleb sighed.

“Look, to me, Kol is the best shot we’ve got. He actually cares about us, when’s the last time a drama teacher did that, instead of just telling us to do things, and not giving a shit about whether or not we didn’t like it?”

He had a point, and Josie was glad. Kol had been nice to her, he’d given her a chance. No other teacher had ever done that.

“Why are you here Alyssa?” Kym spoke up, a frown on her face.

Alyssa rose an eyebrow, “What do you mean?”

“I mean that you disagreed with Kol on a lot of things. Why do you care if we lose him?”

Alyssa sighed and stood up, “Much like Wendy, I like having a say on things. And I agree with Kaleb, Kol actually cared about us. But to be fair, I’m not the brains of this operation, nor am I the heart.”

“So, who is? Who’s gonna come up with the plan to save a teacher from getting fired, even though he basically deserved it if we’re being real.”

Jade. Of course. Josie was really starting to get annoyed at her and her inability to stay out of things.

Hope rolled her eyes, “We’re all here to make the decision together. It’s our play, it’s our joint decision.”

“But who’s the leader? Is it you?”

“I…” Hope trailed off, and Josie could see her trying not to get frustrated and yell at Jade. Josie was honestly shocked. For someone who had been so excited about the play, she seemed to be giving in quick. 

Or maybe she just didn’t like being the one in control.

“Look, how about, someone gives me one real reason why this is our problem, and one real way that we can fix this.”

There was silence for a moment, and Josie could see Hope panicking. Then Penelope spoke.

“You know, I agree with you Jade.”

Every head turned to her with surprise. Josie herself felt like she’d misheard. Penelope, agreeing with Jade? There was no way.

Jade looked just as surprised, “You do?”

Penelope nodded, “I’m mad at Kol. He shouldn’t have lied, not to us, not to the school, because he put this play in jeopardy. And I don’t know about you guys, but this play has become my safe space. You guys are my friends, and I look forwards to rehearsal at the end of the day. So, yeah, I’m mad that he might be the reason that we could lose this.”

There was silence as everyone pondered her words. Penelope sighed and continued, 

“But I also agree with what Hope and Kaleb said. Kol cared about us. When I was having a bad day, he didn’t get pissed at me, he asked what was wrong, and he gave me another chance. Think back, and I’m sure he did something like that for every one of you, even if it was just something small.”

Josie thought of the time that she’d yelled at Penelope in front of everyone, and how he’d just wanted to know what was happening. 

“He cares about this play. He lied, yeah, and that sucks. But I don’t want to lose this chance. I don’t want to lose this. This is my home, my family.”

“Same,” Josie said, before she even thought about it, but it was true. 

“Yeah,” Hope added.

“I feel like I have a purpose here,” Landon said, with a nervous grin.

“Making these dances is so fun, it’s a place I get to express myself,” MG admitted.

Alyssa laughed, “I have to admit, you guys aren’t the worst. And it beats homework, so yeah, I agree.”

“Being in a new school, it’s hard to fit in. This play gave me and my brother a place to be,” Maya told them.

More and more people started to speak up. Josie slowly started to smile. Even Jade sighed and said, 

“Being Sharpay is so fun. I feel like when I’m on stage, I can be better.”

Eventually, the whole room seemed to be in agreement.

“Right, so now that we can all agree that we need this play, we need a way to keep Kol in. Luckily, that’s where Lizzie comes in.” Penelope turned to Lizzie with a smirk, and she stood up, flicking her hair over her shoulder.

“My mother is on the school board. She’s agreed to vote to keep Kol in at the hearing. However, there are seven people on that board. We need the majority to vote for him to stay.”

“How do we do that?” Landon piped up.

“We’re going to show them that this play is worth it, and that Kol is worth it. We’re going to give them a performance they won’t forget.”

“Are you saying that we’re going to put on a performance for the school board?” Rafael sounded sceptical, and Josie couldn’t blame him. It was a rather outlandish idea. Who knew if it even had the possibility of working?

“It sounds crazy, but desperate times call for desperate measures,” Kaleb explained. “The plan is, to put on a musical number. Our song people will come up with lyrics. Our dance people will come up with a dance. Then we will practice relentlessly throughout the night.”

The idea of preparing for this all night was daunting, but Josie was down. With something to fight for, they would almost be undefeatable. 

When there were no outward signs of discontent, Lizzie grinned and clapped her hands together.

“Alright theatre nerds, it’s time to put that charm and creativity to use. Because this is about to be the rehearsal of your lives.”

+++

Josie was put on the writing team. This team consisted of her, Landon, Hope, Penelope, and Ethan. MG and Kaleb were working with Maya to come up with a dance routine, and the others were working on how to best do this in a way that wouldn’t get them all expelled. 

They all sat in Hope’s basement, Landon cradling his guitar with Ethan leaning on his shoulder, Josie sitting on the beanbag, with her back resting against Penelope’s legs, and Hope sitting in the middle, hands hovering over a keyboard.

MG had apparently been coming up with a dance track recently, so he’d leant it to them so that they could come up with some lyrics to fit it. So far, they were just muttering vague ideas into the air.

“What about ‘Kol is our king, the ruler of everything’?” Josie mumbled. Penelope, who was playing with Josie’s hair, chuckled.

“Not really the vibe we’re going for here Jojo.”

“I think we need to focus on why we need Kol. Like, what does he stand for?” Ethan said, sitting up. Landon frowned at the loss of contact, and Josie hid her smile. They were already so adorable.

“Okay, well he stands for us,” Penelope said.

“I feel like we do need to address the fact that he’s not perfect. I mean, his class could be a little more classy,” Josie joked.

“His head’s not in the game,” Penelope replied, and Josie could hear the grin in her voice.

“But we need him all the same.” Ethan snapped his fingers. “Hope, write that down, I have an idea.”

Hope’s fingers clattered on the keyboard.

“What if we throw in some more musical theatre references? Like, we say that Sharpay and Ryan would love him, or we make a joke about him not having seen Dear Evan Hansen,” Ethan explained.

Hope nodded, “That sounds good. I also have an idea. It’s a bit stupid, but I think it could work.”

“Hit us with it H,” Penelope said.

Hope rolled her eyes, “How about ‘he stands for truth, justice, and songs in our key’?”

“So, like a play on truth, justice, and the American way?” Josie asked.

“Yeah, sort of. But like, the theatre version.”

“He is kind of the Superman of drama teachers,” Landon said, and Ethan looked back at him.

“You’re a dork.”

“I’m your dork though.”

“Boys, stop flirting and focus,” Hope chastised. 

“Yeah, it’s gross,” Penelope added.

Landon looked at Penelope, “You’re playing with Josie’s hair.”

Josie blushed. Penelope’s hands did not still.

“Yeah, and it’s platonic. It’s also not noticeable, unlike you two.”

“I noticed.”

“You two are children, let’s get back to the lyrics,” Hope interjected. 

Landon started saying something about what they could start with, but Josie didn’t hear, because Penelope had stopped playing with her hair, just for a moment. She looked back and frowned.

“What’s wrong?”

Penelope smiled, “I wasn’t sure if you liked it. Plus, I didn’t want you to be embarrassed.”

Josie smiled back, “Keep doing it. It feels nice. You can try braiding it if you’d like.”

Penelope’s eyes lit up, “Really?”

“You’re adorable.”

“Now look who’s flirting," Ethan commented. 

Josie looked back to see that the other three were looking at them with barely contained smiles.

“Shut up and write,” she told them, unable to hide her own smile as she felt Penelope starting to braid her hair.

“Alright. So, what do you think about mentioning falling asleep in chemistry class?”

+++

They finished writing the song around midnight, and they headed up to the courtyard to find the others. Most of the cast had left, leaving the message that they would be ready to practice tomorrow. Out of the dance crew, only Kaleb, MG, Maya, and Kym were left. Rafael and Lizzie had also stuck around, and had apparently had a genius idea, judging by the grins on their faces.

“Okay team, what have we got?” Kaleb asked as they entered the courtyard. 

Ethan proudly held up the printed-out copy of lyrics that they had.

“We’ve got the lyrics, and we’ve got the notes. Now we just need to assign the parts. What about you guys?”

“We’ve got a dance down. We might need to adapt some bits to the lyrics, but I think we’ll be ready for tomorrow. Rehearse at recess, lunch, after school, and night if we need to?”

Penelope shook her head, “Not recess, it’s barely twenty minutes, we won’t get anything done. After school we should be able to go for a fairly long time. Night only if necessary.”

Kaleb nodded, “Sounds good. We’ll show everyone the finished dance idea tomorrow, but you guys should send out the lyrics, and we can figure out parts.”

“Do you really think we can pull this off?” Maya asked, looking between all of them.

Alyssa shrugged, “I’ve seen crazier things happen at this school. For instance, those idiots breaking up.” She gestured to Josie and Penelope, who both looked down at the ground.

She sighed, “And they’re still being shy. Well, this has been fun, but I need some beauty sleep. Later.” She turned and stalked out of the courtyard.

Kaleb snorted once she had left, “That girl is such a diva.”

“It’s theatre, what are you expecting?” Kym asked with an eye roll.

MG turned to face all of them, “I don’t think there’s much we can do tonight. Do we want to head home?”

They all nodded. Josie didn’t think she had much brain power left. She just wanted to sleep.

“Landon and I will head home. MG, you need a ride?”

“Nah man it’s cool, Kaleb and Kym are taking me.”

Maya nodded, “Ethan and I will also head off. It was cool hanging out with you guys. I really hope that this works. I know I’ve been kind of a bitch these past few weeks, but I don’t want to be that person anymore. I’m trying to be better, and I want to keep this play; it makes me happy.”

Kaleb nodded, “As long as you stop saying shit to my friends, I think I can forgive you.” He looked to Penelope, and she nodded.

Maya smiled, “Right, well, I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

Ethan and Landon had headed off to a corner, presumably to say some sappy goodbye and to kiss a bit, so they all gave them a moment of privacy. Kaleb, Kym, and MG headed out, and the rest of them made small talk while they waited.

Eventually, Ethan and Landon made their way back to the main group, and a chorus of goodbyes rang through the courtyard. Josie was frankly surprised that no Mikaelson had come out to yell at them. Although, she supposed that Hayley was supportive of Hope’s every move, Camille would never yell at kids, Elijah knew well enough not to ask, and Klaus had probably just watched them in secret at some point.

Once it was just the four of them, Penelope turned to Hope and sighed,

“Can I crash here tonight?”

Hope nodded, “Sure. What about you two, do you want to stay?”

Josie looked at Lizzie, and knew that neither of them really wanted to leave. Their favourite people were right there, and this was kind of the perfect excuse to spend some time with them. 

Lizzie faked a yawn, “I think I’m too tired to drive. Can we stay?” She looked so innocent that Josie nearly believed that she truly was just tired, instead of a girl who knew exactly what she was doing.

Hope nodded, “Sure. Do you want your own rooms?”

“Oh no, that’s fine, I can stay with you and Josie can go with Penelope, right?”

Josie loved her sister so much right now. She nodded an turned to Penelope with a smile. Penelope blushed. They’d shared a bed in this new stage of their relationship before, but they’d sort of fallen asleep accidently. This would be very much intentional.

And Josie was very okay with that. She’d always slept best next to Penelope.

“Shall we go?” She asked, and the rest nodded. Hope and Lizzie headed off, already somehow giggling over something. Josie walked over to Penelope, who shook her head with a smile.

“What?”

“I know what you’re doing Jojo. You’re trying to get me alone. I will remind you that I am not easily seduced.”

“I’m not trying to seduce you.”

“Why not? I love being seduced.”

“I thought you weren’t easily seduced.”

“Well, it’s the challenge that makes it fun Jojo. I’m sure you remember.” Penelope grinned and Josie looked away with a blush. She very much did remember and she’d rather put those memories away, lest she be tempted to do something foolish tonight.

Penelope’s smile softened, “Don’t worry Jojo, we won’t do anything tonight. We’re not there yet. I just like having you next to me. You make me feel safe.”

Josie smiled, and she entwined their hands.

“You make me feel safe too.”

+++

They got ready for bed in silence. Josie hadn’t had the chance to get pyjamas ready, as they had gone straight from school to here, but she had left some pyjamas here last time that she had slept over.

Her and Penelope got dressed in the bathroom, separately, with Josie going first. She waited on the bed, scrolling through the chat while she waited for Penelope to be done. Most people approved of the lyrics that they had chosen, and people were already saying who should have which part. 

They were being surprisingly diplomatic about it. Josie found that some people had even suggested certain parts that she could do. She had, of course, said that she’d be happy to do whatever they thought would work best. Kaleb was very good at keeping everyone in check, and Alyssa was actually being helpful for once.

As much as a drama causing bitch as Alyssa could be, she could be very helpful when she needed to be. Josie suspected that she cared more about this play than she let on. 

“Hey Jojo.” 

Josie looked up to see Penelope standing in the doorway to the bathroom, smiling down at her. The pyjamas were white, and just a touch too small for her. Just the barest bit of her midriff was exposed, and Josie couldn’t stop her eyes falling to it for a moment.

Penelope was unfortunately very observant of that, and she chuckled lightly.

“My eyes are up here.”

Josie blushed and looked up, “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologise. I know I’m a snack, but maybe stop looking at me like you want to eat me alive.”

“I was not!”

“Oh, you totally were. But I’ll let it slide. You know, for friendship reasons?”

Josie shook her head, laughing as Penelope came to sit next to her on the bed,

“You know, I don’t think you know what that word means.”

“Sure, I do. It means I don’t kiss you, and it means I keep the flirting light and joking. It also means that I get to have you in my life, and I get to make you smile.” 

Josie looked up to meet Penelope’s eyes, a smile gracing her lips, and Penelope grinned, tapping her on the cheek. 

“Just like that, see?”

Josie laughed, “You’re such an idiot.”

“But you keep me around.”

“I can’t imagine why.”

“My natural charm and personality. And also, no one else cares about your stupid CW shows.”

Josie gasped mockingly, “Are you calling my shows stupid?”

“Yes, because they’re all cheesy and the relationships are terrible.”

“They’re fun to watch,” Josie exclaimed. Penelope gave her a teasing grin.

“You can admit that you watch them for the hot people.”

“Absolutely not. I’ll have you know that some of them are really good. And at least I don’t watch Riverdale.”

Penelope laughed, “That’s fair.”

Josie nodded, “And I don’t make fun of your bad horror movies.”

Penelope put on a mock offended expression, one so fake and exaggerated that Josie had to hold in her laughter.

“Excuse me, those are the height of cinema.”

“Sure, if you call jump scares and forced heterosexual romance ‘the height of cinema’.”

“Hey, some of them aren’t forced.” Penelope couldn’t even keep a straight face as she said it, and she ended up laughing. Josie couldn’t get past one second of hearing that beautiful sound without joining her, and suddenly they were both lying back on the bed, laughing their lungs out.

They tried to gain control of themselves, but every time they caught a glimpse of the others face, they just started laughing all over again. Josie’s heart felt light, even if she felt like she might gain muscles in her stomach from all the laughing.

Eventually, they both quietened, whether it be because they had no more breath for laughter, or simply because that moment had ended, and they were on to a new one. Josie didn't mind if it was the latter, as long as she got to be with Penelope in this next moment. 

Penelope looked at Josie, and Josie felt her fingers wrapping around Josie’s hand.

“I love watching you writing songs. You get so animated, it’s clear that’s where you shine.”

Josie blushed, “You weren’t too bad yourself.”

“No, I wasn’t, but you outshone me by a mile there. Don’t worry, I have plenty of things I’m better than you in though.”

Josie rose an eyebrow, “Like what?”

“I’m a better dancer.”

“No, you are not.”

“Josie, I think MG dreams about killing you in his sleep, based on the amount of times you’ve messed up in rehearsals.”

Okay, that was unfair. Josie wasn’t that bad. Yes, she had caused the entire cast to have to start again multiple times, but sometimes her feet weren’t that quick. And fine, maybe she’d mixed up left and right a few times, but everyone did that.

Penelope grinned at her, “Don’t worry though, I still think you’re cute.”

“Shut up.”

“About you being cute? Never. The whole world must know.”

“With the amount of time you spent talking about it, they probably do.”

“Good.”

Josie rolled onto her back, keeping her hand in Penelope’s.

“We should go to sleep, shouldn’t we?”

Penelope sighed, “Yeah probably. It’s nearly one. We should get at least six hours if we want to function tomorrow. And there is going to be lots of need for function. We don’t have a lot of time to pull this off.”

Josie nodded, and let go of Penelope’s hand to climb up the bed and under the covers. Penelope followed her, and Josie switched off the light, leaving the two of them only lit by the alarm clock on the bedside table.

Josie couldn’t see Penelope’s face, but she could hear her, could feel her presence. She felt somehow too close, and not close enough at the same time.

To resolve this issue, Josie rolled over, so she was facing away from Penelope. Good. Now she didn’t feel like she was going to burst into flames from Penelope’s presence alone.

Then she heard the sheets shifting, and a hand wrapped around her waist. This was followed by the feeling of Penelope’s body pushing up against her back.

“Is this okay?” Penelope’s voice was soft, and Josie felt goose bumps run down her arms when she felt Penelope’s breath hit her ear.

Josie nodded and mumbled, “Yeah, yeah this is fine.”

“Okay.” 

They were both silent for a moment. Then Penelope spoke again.

“Can I say something a bit stupid?”

“You often do,” Josie replied without thinking. She immediately wanted to smack herself, “Sorry, knee jerk response.”

“Should I be offended that your knee jerk response is to insult me?”

“Just say what you wanted to.”

“Maybe I don’t want to, now that you’ve insulted me so harshly,” Penelope teased. Josie rolled her eyes, thankful that it was dark and she was turned away, so that Penelope couldn’t see.

“You totally just rolled your eyes.”

“No, I didn’t,” Josie lied.

Penelope laughed, “Alright, I’ll believe you.”

Josie waited for Penelope to say what she had been going to, and when Penelope stayed silent, she asked,

“Did you fall asleep on me?”

Penelope’s chuckle sounded through the room, “No I did not. How could I, with such wondrous company?”

“Stop flirting and say what you were going to say.”

Penelope sighed, her voice shifting to a more vulnerable tone when she spoke next,

“I sort of want to stay here, in this room, holding you, forever. I think I’m almost happy here.”

Josie knew what she meant. She felt it too.

“I know.”

They laid in silent, both firm in the knowledge that this would be the last bit of peace they probably have for the next few days. There was much work to be done, and they were probably going to be at the head of it.

But at least they had each other. 

After a long pause Penelope whispered, “Goodnight Jojo.”

“Goodnight Pen,” Josie whispered back. 

When she closed her eyes, Josie willed herself not to fall asleep for as long as possible, just so she could keep the feeling of Penelope’s arms around her in her mind for as long as possible.

But her mind and body betrayed her, and she was soon asleep, leaving the night feeling at peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, sometimes I struggle with writing the more plot based scenes, but the moment I get to anything Posie related, it's just way easier. That's an irrelevant fact, but I thought I should share.  
> Also, this fic hit 700 kudos! That's pretty epic if you ask me! I'm glad so many people like my story about Posie being dumb theatre kids!  
> Next up, we have the preparation for the performance, and an unexpected but important conversation between two of our girls (yes I'm being vague on purpose, it's for mystery reasons).   
> Until then, I hope everyone has a wonderful week!


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, I came so close to nearly not getting this update done on time. But, I powered through, and here we go!  
> Enjoy!

Waking up that morning, Penelope forgot for a moment that she wasn’t at her house. This was probably due to the fact that she felt so at home where she was.

Then she realised it wasn’t normal for her to be feeling so calm, and her room didn’t smell like sandalwood, and there wasn’t usually another body in her bed.

She didn’t want to open her eyes once she came to her senses. Josie’s body was just so soft and warm, and she smelt like strawberry shampoo, and Penelope didn’t want to leave this bed.

There was so much that she had to do today. There was a dance to learn, and a song to learn, and idiots to keep in line. All she wanted to do though, was just stay in this bed with Josie, and keep this feeling inside of her chest going for all of eternity. 

Then she felt the bed shifting, and heard Josie’s soft and tired moan. She opened her eyes to find Josie sitting up, stretching her arms in the air, face all scrunched up as she made the most adorable noises.

Her eyes fell down to meet Penelope’s, and when she realised that she was awake, she gave her a soft smile. 

“Hey.”

Penelope grinned, “Hey Jojo. You ready to do today?”

Josie groaned, shaking her head, “Nope. But I don’t think I have a choice. At least I’ll have you with me, right?”

Penelope nodded, “Right.”

Josie sighed and rubbed at her eyes with one hand, reaching for her phone with the other. Penelope also sat up and reached for her phone, which was plugged in on the other side of the bed. 

Sunlight was streaming in from under the curtains on Josie’s side of the room, and Penelope winced as a beam hit her in the face.

“Ugh, too bright.”

She felt the covers rustle, and felt Josie’s weight leave the bed. As she was about to ask where Josie was going, she heard the curtains open, and suddenly the room was even brighter than before.

Penelope squeezed her eyes shut, “Jerk.”

“Sunlight is good for you.”

“Not this early in the morning it isn’t.”

“Someone’s whiny.”

“I haven’t had my coffee this morning.”

“Ah, right, because you’re addicted to caffeine.”

Penelope huffed, “No I am not.

Josie’s laugh was far too happy for this early in the morning, “You totally are. Caffeine is a drug, remember?”

Penelope rolled her eyes. She did remember, as Josie had reminded her every day of their tenth-grade drugs and alcohol unit in Health.

“You’re not answering because I’m right,” Josie teased.

Penelope just laughed, “I’m not dignifying that with a response.”

“Fine then. I’m still right.”

She totally was, “Believe what you want Jojo.”

+++

When they came down to breakfast that morning, only Hayley and Elijah were at the table. Hayley greeted them both with a smile, and Elijah nodded, and took another sip of his tea.

“Morning girls, I’ve been told not to ask, but I’m assuming you have a plan for what to do about Kol?” Hayley glanced between the two of them.

Josie and Penelope exchanged a look. Penelope didn’t know how much they were allowed to speak about, but she’d always trusted Hayley. Plus, if it was to do with family, the Mikaelson’s were always supportive. 

“We do. Hopefully, today we can get it to pull through,” Penelope told them, pulling out Josie’s chair first. Josie gave her a thankful smile and sat down, and then Penelope sat next to her.

“I’m sure our whole family is rooting for you. As much as my brother may be…difficult at times, he deserves to find his place. I happen to think that it may be at your school,” Elijah told them, with just the hint of a smile on his lips. From Elijah, that was practically him setting off confetti canons and screaming his support.

Penelope started gathering up some bacon and eggs for herself, and Josie started to butter herself a piece of bread. Hayley looked up to where they’d come from.

“Any sign of life from Hope or Lizzie?”

Penelope shook her head, “Hope hates mornings, and so does Lizzie. They’re practically made for each other.”

Elijah nodded, “Yes, indeed. Are they any closer to realising it, or should I inform the family that we’re in for a few more years of waiting?”

“They’re getting closer,” Josie told him. Penelope, who was not aware of any major developments, turned to Josie with a raised eyebrow. Josie mouthed ‘later’, so Penelope turned back to her food. She took a bite of her eggs and had to stop herself from moaning. 

The Mikaelson family was crazy good at cooking. Or like, their paid chef or whatever. Whichever it was, she needed to write them a thank you card one day.

Hayley sighed and shook her head, “I just wish they’d talk about it.”

Penelope shrugged, “Not everyone can be as mature as us.” She turned to Josie with a grin. Josie looked up, with a mouthful of toast, and blushed.

“And how are the two of you?” Hayley had the face of a polite adult but the eyes of a concerned mother. Penelope smiled and looked at Josie. Josie swallowed, and gave Penelope a look signalling that she could be honest.

Penelope turned back to Hayley, “We’re working things out.”

Hayley smiled, “That’s good.”

A voice sounded from the stairs, “Sorry we’re late, we slept in. Please tell me there’s still some bacon left.”

Penelope had half a mind to shovel all the remaining bacon onto her plate, specifically to spite Hope, but she decided against it. Hope pulled out the chair, and both Penelope and Josie winced as it scraped against the ground.

Penelope scanned both Hope and Lizzie’s appearances. Flushed cheeks, hair still unbrushed, avoiding eye contact with every else on the table.

She looked to see that Josie had noticed the same thing. If it was any other time, Penelope would have probably just said fuck it, and questioned them. But, with Hayley and Elijah at the table, and with her promise to Lizzie in mind, she kept her mouth shut.

Josie was definitely going to be telling her everything later. 

+++

Penelope couldn’t concentrate in the first two periods. It was Maths, fucking Maths, and the teacher was going on about some geometric sequences bullshit, and she couldn’t fucking concentrate.

Her mind was just going over the lyrics, playing the song in her head, thinking about falling asleep next to Josie, thinking about waking up next to Josie, thinking about Kol, and how if this didn’t work, she was probably going to crash emotionally.

Like, fuck, Penelope had been trying not to think about it, but if this didn’t work, it would not be good for her. This play somehow managed to push her to her last nerve, and also give her purpose. 

The lesson dragged on forever. Penelope tried her best to act fine, to just joke and talk with her table group. Alyssa was the only other theatre kid in her class, and she was scary good at acting like she was fine all the time.

Penelope knew that Sasha was telling her a story that would definitely be worth remembering, and Jed was making a joke that was definitely worth laughing at, but she couldn’t think. 

No one asked if she was okay, of course. That wasn’t how these types of people operated. If you weren’t okay, that wasn’t their problem. 

God, Penelope was glad she’d never been sucked up into that type of friendship. And she felt bad for Maya. After a few years of friends who were only there when it was convenient, it would be hard to actually connect to people.

She could barely get out the door quick enough. At recess, her and the rest of the appointed leaders of this whole thing, as well as Josie because she tagged along, sat around a table, and discussed their plans.

They’d assign roles, then they’d get to work on choreographing the dance. If they worked all lunch, and for the normal amount of rehearsal time after school, with everyone taking it seriously, then maybe, just maybe, they had a chance of pulling of the performance that they needed to save Kol.

Penelope couldn’t stop bouncing her leg under the table. It was like her body was suddenly full of this energy, and it needed to break out of her. She remembered once being told that stress was just her brain’s way of giving her the resources needed to face a threat, and when nothing was done with those resources, they just made you shaky.

If that was true, she’d like a way to have a chat with her brain, and tell it that she really didn’t need all this energy.

Josie interlaced their hands under the table, and that at least calmed her down a little bit, but her heart still felt like it was going to break out of her chest. There were just so many high stakes. She just needed to get to the bit where they actually started doing shit, and then she’d be fine.

All this waiting just made her feel fucking useless. 

The moment that they left the room, Josie pulled her aside.

“Hey, are you alright? You’re really tense, and you’re shaking.” She lifted Penelope’s hand, and Penelope realised that she was indeed shaking. Pulling her hand away, as if to somehow mask the way she was feeling, she gave Josie a smile.

“Yeah, it’s just adrenaline.”

Josie just stared at her.

“I thought we agreed to be honest about when we were having a hard time.”

Penelope opened her mouth to argue, but she couldn’t find any words that wouldn’t come off as defensive or aggressive.

She decided to give in.

“Yeah, okay, I’m not fine. I’m just really fucking sick of waiting. I just need to be doing something to help Kol.”

Josie nodded and took Penelope’s hand back. Penelope didn’t stop her.

“Just one more lesson. It’s English, I’ll be there by your side the whole time. And then we can start the work.”

Penelope held her gaze, wondering how Josie managed to slow her heart just by talking to her.

“Okay. I can do that.”

Josie smiled, “Good. Now, let’s go. Mr Griffith will get upset if his best students are late.”

With a laugh, Penelope let herself get pulled down the corridor.

+++

The lunch time rehearsal could have been better, so it was good that they had time for improvement. At least they were finally doing something, even if half of the cast seemed to have forgotten the difference between left and right.

Kaleb and MG, to their credit, were patient with everyone. There was no yelling, or breakdowns, just them calmly telling everyone to go from the top. 

They had decided to master the dance first. Once they got the movements down, it should be easy to add the words in. They didn’t have the amount of time that they should, but that didn’t matter. 

Penelope still managed to find time to make jokes, just to relieve some of the tension. The laughter that she received whenever she said something made her feel lighter, made her feel like this whole thing wasn’t life and death.

It was just a dance. And they were gonna get it. They were a team. They’d been working together for weeks now. This was the moment that they were going to finally click.

Penelope spent the last two periods of the day in a similar state to how she spent the morning. The only difference was that she could now just close her eyes and think about the movements they’d learnt, trying to commit them to memory. Her mind played the song on loop in her brain, and she had to make an effort to not start humming it.

When the clock turned to 3:15pm, Penelope was the first out of her seat. Ms Claire gave her a strange look, but Penelope got the feeling that she knew about what was going on behind the scenes, as she didn’t say anything.

Penelope wasn’t the first to make it to the drama room. When she raced through the door, bag falling to the ground the moment she was out of the corridor, she found Kaleb, Maya, and Landon, all sitting in a circle on the stage.

They greeted her and she sat down next to them.

“What’s up guys?”

“We all had a free last, so we’ve just been here, talking,” Kaleb explained. He jerked his head towards Maya, “She doesn’t suck as much as I thought she did.”

Maya snorted, “Thanks.” She looked to Landon, a teasing grin already pulling at her lips. 

“When you said that he was a shared problem, I didn’t understand what you meant. After hearing him describe my twin’s eyes in detail, I understand.”

Landon made a face of offence, “Hey, it wasn’t that bad.”

Kaleb laughed, “Man, I had to change the subject three times to stop you talking.”

Penelope grinned and poked Landon’s arm, “You’re such a dork.”

“As if I haven’t heard you going on and on about Josie. I have way too much information about her smile in my mind.”

“Whose smile?” 

They all looked up to see Josie entering with Lizzie and MG. Penelope just smiled.

“Yours.”

Josie blushed and Lizzie rolled her eyes, “Please refrain from flirting in front of me. It’s disgusting.”

“How queerphobic of you.”

“Don’t quote Riverdale at me.”

Josie sat next to Penelope, and immediately leant her head on Penelope’s shoulder.

“Hey.”

Penelope looked away from Lizzie, feeling her smile softening as she looked at Josie.

“Hey.”

She heard Lizzie say something to MG, but she didn’t really care to find out what it was.

“You ready for this?”

Josie nodded, “So ready.”

They didn’t have to wait long for the rest of the cast and crew to show up. It was probably the quickest they’d all been in turning up to practice. Penelope made a mental note to tell Kol. 

Once they’d got him back, of course.

And so, the rehearsal began again. They made the decision to only stop for a bit every hour, just so that people didn’t pass out. That would certainly put a damper on things.

Penelope had never been an amazing dancer, and Josie was fairly clumsy, but both of them put their minds to it, and followed the instructions as closely as they could. Those who weren’t as skilled with dancing were given smaller parts when it came to dancing anyways.

Penelope had never really seen Maya in action, or more, had never cared enough to watch her, but she noted that Maya was actually a really good dancer. She didn’t hesitate, and she moved her body like she was literally one with the music.

No wonder Josie hadn’t been able to dance the same way she had. 

Lizzie somehow managed to get a pass from dancing, and so had Landon. They had chosen to sit in the front row of seats, and Penelope was 100% sure that Lizzie was just staring at Hope, and Landon at Ethan.

Apparently both Machado twins had dancing ability. What didn’t that family have in terms of talent? Penelope would have to ask.

To Penelope’s surprise, they were actually picking up the dance really quickly. Usually in rehearsal, they were sloppy, or they were slow. Here, they all moved like they cared, like they wanted to be there.

And it was good. Kaleb was even smiling when he watched them, which he never usually did. MG looked like he was about to literally explode, what with the fact that he kept jumping up and down.

Penelope caught Lizzie’s eye and grinned. Lizzie just rolled her eyes. Penelope responded by blowing her a kiss. 

She tried to catch Landon’s eye as well, but he was too busy staring at Ethan. So, instead, she looked for Josie. 

Josie was standing with Kym and Rafael, and was listening to what MG was telling them. Penelope stared at her for a moment, just smiling at her chewing her lip, and titling her head like a confused puppy dog as she listened.

Eventually, Josie must have felt Penelope’s gaze, because her eyes slid across to meet her. Penelope grinned and Josie blushed, looking away for a moment, and then looking back, a smile clear on her face.

Penelope didn’t get to hold Josie’s gaze for long. Rafael noticed that she wasn’t paying attention, and nudged her shoulder with his own, and Josie looked back to MG, but it was still nice.

God, Penelope was so gone for this girl. It should really stop surprising her.

+++

They rehearsed for nearly four hours before people had to start going home for dinner or because their parents were calling. In that time, they got the dance almost perfect, and had run through the entire song about five times.

Penelope would call it a success if she wasn’t so worried about jinxing it.

The hearing was in the afternoon, so they planned to do a final run-through at lunchtime tomorrow. Hopefully, all of that was enough to convince the board that Kol needed to stay. And if it wasn’t, well, Penelope had been assured that they had a backup plan, one that she was pretty sure involved Ms Claire. 

But she couldn’t think about the need for a backup plan. She just needed to think about how they were going to do this, and how they were going to do it right. 

She stopped at the bathroom before she left. When she exited the stall, she looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was a mess, which was too be expected after all of that dancing, and her cheeks were still flushed from the exertion.

But she was smiling, and it looked genuine. It didn’t look like her smile that she wore when she was trying to get Hope off her back, or the one she wore when she was trying to convince everyone that she was having the time of her life.

It was a genuine, content smile, one that reached her eyes. And noticing that caused it to widen even more. 

It was progress.

She pushed open the door and nearly ran straight into Lizzie.

“What the hell are you doing?” She stared at Lizzie, wondering why the hell she was just standing outside the bathrooms like a stalker.

Lizzie rolled her eyes, “I was waiting for you. Don’t make it a big thing.”

She frowned, “I thought you and Josie were leaving? She said that your mums wanted you home for dinner.”

Lizzie shrugged, “I told Josie I was going to hang back to talk to you. And I texted my mums to let them know I might be late for dinner.” It was at this point that Penelope noticed how Lizzie wasn’t meeting her eyes, how her fingers were playing with the edges of her shirt, and she realised that there was something else going on here.

She tried to lighten the mood, “If you’re about to confess your undying love to me, I regret to inform you that I have feelings for your sister.”

Lizzie swatted her shoulder, but Penelope saw the ghost of a smile on her lips.

“Shut up Park, I’m trying to be serious.”

Penelope folded her arms and leaned against the wall next to the bathroom door.

“Alright, would it be easier if the two of us left the school, or do you want to do this here?”

Lizzie shook her head, “My car is still here. Do you think we could go there? I think I need a moment.”

Penelope nodded, “Right, let’s go.”

They walked in silence, but Penelope kept checking out of the corner of her eye to check how Lizzie was going. If this conversation was going where she thought it was, Lizzie wasn’t going to get any surer about what she was going to say.

Which meant Penelope was actually going to have to be helpful here. Ugh, Josie was so much better at this type of thing. But she’d been okay when talking to Maya. Surely Penelope could do this.

They got into the car, and for a moment Penelope had to pause, because she could smell Josie’s perfume. It mixed in with Lizzie’s stronger flowery one, but she could still smell the soft jasmine.

She blinked herself out of that haze, and she turned to Lizzie, who was staring out the front window and tapping her fingers on the wheel in a seemingly random pattern.

“Lizzie?”

Lizzie didn’t look over, but she made a noise to show that she’d heard Penelope.

“I’m going to ask something, and it’s going to break one of the rules we set up.”

Lizzie took a shaky breath, “Okay.”

“Is this about Hope?”

Lizzie kept staring out the front window, suddenly still. Then, she nodded. Penelope smiled.

“Okay. Now, you can never tell anyone that I was this soft and considerate after this conversation, alright?”

Lizzie scoffed, finally moving like she wasn’t stuck in shock, “Please, all the people I’d want to tell already know.”

Penelope grinned, “You’re not wrong.” She softened, trying to figure out how to best approach this.

“I’m bisexual,” Lizzie said suddenly.

Penelope was shocked to hear how Lizzie said it so confidently. By the wide look in her eyes, so was Lizzie.

“Okay. That’s cool,” Penelope told her after a moment.

Lizzie nodded sharply, “Yeah. Don’t tell anyone.”

“Don’t worry. Outing people is shitty, I would never.”

Lizzie relaxed just a bit, but her hands were now gripping the wheel tightly, and her posture was just a bit too upright.

“Don’t tell Hope.”

“I won’t. That’s your moment.”

Lizzie sighed, “And also…fuck.” She yanked her hands off the wheel, and covered her face. 

Penelope sighed, “It’s okay if you can’t say it. You aren’t entitled to tell me anything, you know?”

“No, I want to, because even though I hate to admit it, you give good advice.”

Penelope smirked, “Thanks.”

Lizzie pulled her head out of her hands and sighed. 

“Okay, let’s try another angle. Why are you so nervous to tell me?”

“Because I’ve only told Josie, and she basically had to coax it out of me. Saying it to you will make it real, and then it’s a thing.”

Penelope shrugged, “I won’t make it a thing if you don’t.”

“You’re missing the point.”

“Maybe. But you’re also missing my point.”

“Which is?”

“Saying it out loud isn’t a bad thing. And if it’s real, well, that means you can start dealing with it.”

Lizzie glared out the window, “Fuck you.”

“I’m right though, aren’t I?”

“Yes. But that doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

Penelope grinned and leant back against the seat, “Well, the night isn’t getting any younger. Might as well just spit it out.” She would have been nicer about it, if she wasn’t very sure that Lizzie really did want to say it, and just needed some encouragement.

Lizzie groaned, “Okay fine. I’m in love with Hope, and I have been since we were kids, and I kissed her in a closet during a party when we were drunk, and I think I lost my chance with her.”

Penelope had no idea where to start with any of that. It was like her thoughts were just making an error noise. 

It was a lot to take in.

“Wait…you and Hope…kissed?”

Lizzie groaned again, “You would focus on that.”

“Yeah I would because I’m surprised that Hope didn’t tell me.” Why hadn’t Hope told her? She’d mentioned that some weird shit had happened at Raf’s party, but she’d also claimed to have forgotten most of it. 

And that would be right around the time that Lizzie stopped talking to Hope as much.

“We were drunk, it was seven minutes in heaven, and she’s never brought it up again. Well, she did, but she said it didn’t mean anything.”

Stupid Hope and her stupid self-sabotaging idiocy. Penelope needed to whack some sense into her when next they talked.

“Well, as Hope’s friend, I can almost guarantee that she was lying to you.”

Lizzie shook her head, “You don’t know that. I lost my chance with her, and I feel like an idiot.”

Penelope sighed. It wasn’t often that she was made the voice of reason.

“Look. Does Josie know about this?”

“Yeah, I talked to her after our night with Hope’s aunts. I told her not to tell you, don’t get mad at her.”

Penelope chuckled, “Don’t worry, I’m not mad at her. I’m glad she kept your secrets. I was just asking, because I know if she told you anything, she would have given you similar advice to what I’m about to say.”

Lizzie frowned, “And what is that?”

“That Hope probably didn’t get fully over you. She’s loved you since she’s known you. You’re like her always and forever.”

Lizzie chewed her lip, “Has she said anything to you?”

Penelope clicked her tongue and wagged her finger, “Best friend code prevents me from giving away any info. But best friend code means that I can tell you what I think. And I think that you should tell Hope, because you’re definitely both being idiots.”

Lizzie sighed. Penelope wanted to bash her head into the dashboard.

“There’s more, isn’t there?”

Lizzie looked at Penelope, just a little bit guiltily.

“I didn’t mean to make you my personal therapist.”

“No, it’s fine, I signed up for this. Also, I literally have nothing better to be doing right now. So, spit it out.”

“I don’t think I’m good enough for her.”

Penelope did actually whack her head into the dashboard. She just did it lightly. And she kept her head resting there.

“What?”

“You sound just like me and Josie. Is this how stupid we sounded?”

“Yes.”

“Right. Well, let me tell you something. You’re not the worst person in the world, you’re actually pretty, and Hope has gone on so many rants about you to me that I’m pretty sure she’s forgotten that you have flaws. Trust me, you’re good enough.”

Lizzie was silent for a moment. Penelope was glad. It gave her time to deal with the fact that she was literally telling Lizzie Saltzman that she was good enough for her best friend. Two months ago, she’d be ready to engage in hand to hand combat with Lizzie. 

Funny how time changed things.

“You think I’m pretty?”

Penelope bopped her head on the dashboard again.

“Not the fucking point of the sentence Elizabeth.”

“I’m telling Josie.”

Penelope shot up, “Do not tell Josie.”

“I’m so telling her.”

“Fine, then I take it back.”

“No take backs.”

“You’re literally five years old.”

Lizzie grinned and pulled out her phone, “I can’t hear you over the sound of me being pretty.”

“Love the self-confidence. Put the phone away.”

Lizzie tapped what Penelope was pretty sure was a send button. Penelope groaned. Now she had to explain to Josie why she’d called Lizzie pretty.

“I’m telling Josie everything that has transpired in this car.”

“Go ahead, I was going to tell her anyways.”

Penelope rolled her eyes and stared at the roof of the car. There was a bump in the fabric, and she was pretty sure that a twelve-year-old version of Hope was the cause.

Lizzie laughed, and Penelope looked over to her.

“You finally snapping?”

“Fuck off Park. I just think that this situation is funny.”

“How so?”

“The girl who has been endlessly pining over my sister, the girl who used to be the queen of miscommunication, is sitting in my car, telling me that I’m good enough for Hope Mikaelson. I don’t think I ever saw this coming.”

Penelope shrugged, “If it makes you feel better, I didn’t see this coming either.”

They both sat there in silence for a moment, and Penelope noted that the clouds had turned a brilliant shade of orange, while the sky had fallen to purple. It looked like the clouds were burning up in the atmosphere. Josie would love that description.

“I think you’re good for my sister. You make her smile, and you make her realise that she’s allowed to be herself,” Lizzie stated calmly.

Penelope smiled, “She makes me feel like that too.”

“Good. I don’t think you’ll hurt her again, and if you do, it’ll probably be because you want to hurt yourself.”

Well, that was a bit too close to the truth for Penelope’s liking. Hopefully, it never came to that. 

She sighed, “Yeah. And I don’t want to do that again.”

“I think you’ll be good. Provided that you keep doing this communication thing you’ve got going on.”

Penelope smiled and nodded. Lizzie checked her phone and sighed.

“My mums are going a bit crazy. I should probably head home.”

“Can I get a lift home?”

“Yeah sure.” Lizzie started the car, and Penelope felt her phone vibrating in her pocket. When she pulled it out, she laughed at the text messages popping up on her phone.

**Jojo <3<3😊: why is lizzie texting me saying that you said she was pretty?**

**Jojo <3<3😊: when I said I wanted the two of you to get closer, that’s not really what i had in mind.**

**Jojo <3<3😊: Not that I’m mad at you ofc, im glad you’re not hating on her or anything**

**Jojo <3<3😊: but i will be needing context.**

**Jojo <3<3😊: also tell her to come home because our mums are about to tear apart the city**

She smiled down at her phone and typed,

**Penelope: don’t worry jojo, you’ll get the whole story**

**Penelope: but maybe later**

**Penelope: she’s on her way home now**

**Penelope: i’ll text you later gorgeous <3**

**Jojo <3<3😊: stop making me smile at the dinner table**

**Penelope: never**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Penelope and Lizzie's friendship is superior and the Legacies writers are cowards for making them hate each other. That's just the truth.  
> So, next chapter, it's time for the drama gang to try and save Kol! It's time for the dance!   
> Usually I have a lot to say here, but I'm really tired tonight, so I'll just end off by thanking the few of you who are left for sticking with this fic. I know the slow burn is slow, but I promise, it will be worth it!  
> Until next time, make sure you guys are getting enough sleep, and that you're taking care of yourselves!


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody! You want some cute Posie and some theatre kid shenanigans? Here you go!  
> Enjoy!

Josie was going to throw up.

Maybe.

Was this how she was going to feel before opening night? Because in that case, maybe she didn’t want to have the lead anymore.

The stakes were so high, and they were just a bunch of dumb theatre kids. Maybe this was a terrible idea. Maybe they should call it off, should just let the adults do their thing, and everything would be fine.

No. She needed to stop psyching herself out. It was going to be fine.

They’d planned this out, they’d rehearsed it, and they were almost perfect. They were going to fight for what they believed in, and they were going to do it theatre style.

It was currently the last period of the day. At lunch time they’d run over it again, and their leaders had given them a pep talk.

Well, more Kaleb had done the talking, MG had given everyone awkward thumbs up, Lizzie had yelled ‘we’ve got this boys and bitches’, Penelope had been too busy playing with Josie’s fingers to speak, and Alyssa had just snarkily added that she really didn’t care what happened.

But it was a pep talk nonetheless, and Josie was going to let herself be motivated by it. So, for what was probably the hundredth time, she ran over the details again.

The plan was simple. Students were allowed to hearings, as well as parents, so they’d all go. Some of their parents would give the best endorsements of Kol that they could, and hopefully that would help his case. Caroline was on the school board, and she would be voting to keep Kol. If he was still in danger, then the students would step in.

Josie had been given the task of starting it. All she had to do, was hum.

Simple, right? And yet that was probably the part she was most scared about. 

But she’d have a whole team behind her. And they knew what to do. They had posters, and they had a boombox, and they had practiced dance moves.

They were going to be fine. 

She checked to see if the teacher was looking, and then pulled her phone up behind her laptop.

Josie: are you as nervous as i am?

It didn’t take long for a response to come through. Josie nearly wanted to admonish Penelope for being on her phone, but that would not help her calm down.

**Pen <3😊: relax jojo, we’re going to be okay**

**Josie: weren’t you literally about to pass out yesterday because you were so stressed?**

**Pen <3😊: yeah, but i’m chill now**

**Pen <3😊: actually, im not, but you’re the one who needs reassurance now**

**Josie: i don’t want to be a bother**

**Josie: im sorry you’re probably supposed to be doing work right now**

**Pen <3😊: hey no**

**Pen <3😊: this is a two way street. you help me, i help you**

**Pen <3😊: that way we keep the world spinning, okay?**

Only Penelope would equate them helping each other out to keeping the world spinning. That girl was so philosophical and eloquent sometimes that it blew Josie away. She’d talk about the stars, and old stories about soulmates being a part of each other.

She was definitely the person who believed that soulmates still existed, the person who believed that her other half, the one who made her feel at home, made her feel whole, was out there.

Did Josie hope that it was her, that she could be the one who Penelope would search galaxies to find? Yeah, she really did.

But that was so beside the point.

**Josie: okay**

**Josie: i just feel like somehow im going to fuck up everything**

**Pen <3😊: don’t worry, you wont**

**Pen <3😊: trust me, we wouldn’t have given you this job if we didn’t know that you would do it**

**Pen <3😊: and you will**

**Pen <3😊: i know you will**

**Josie: you’ll be there the whole time, right?**

**Pen <3😊: always.**

+++

Josie settled into her seat, and looked to Landon, who was sitting on the left. The whole room was still filled with the bubble of gossip about the situation, and the crash of feet as more people filed in.

It already felt too warm in here. Josie just knew that she was going to be so sweaty and gross after this whole thing. She had made the right move in putting on deodorant.

She looked across the crowd and found her mothers, talking with Ms Claire, all of them looking very concerned. A little further to the right, and there was Penelope’s dad, looking slightly dazed, but here nonetheless. Josie knew that Penelope was actually really pleased that he was here, and she smiled.

Landon looked to her and gave what she thought was supposed to be a smile, but came out as more of a grimace.

“You ready for this?”

Josie sighed, “No, but I don’t think that matters. We’re doing it, and whatever happens, happens.”

He rose an eyebrow, “How…inspirational.”

“I’m pretty sure that I stole it from Lizzie’s quote calendar.”

“What the hell is that?”

“She has like this little calendar that has a quote for every day. The ones that she ‘vibes’ with, she sticks on her wall.” Josie made quotation marks with her hands when she said vibe, and Landon laughed.

“Sounds like Lizzie.”

Josie nodded, and the two of them fell back into silence. She didn’t really like that, because not talking meant that her thoughts were free to run wild, and that was really the last thing she needed right now.

So, she blurted out the first thing that came to her mind.

“How’s Ethan?”

Landon looked a little shocked, probably because not only was it a very random question, but Josie had almost yelled it. A few people turned to look at them, and Josie winced apologetically at them.

Landon recovered his composure and shrugged, a smile pulling at the corner of his lips.

“He’s good. We went on a date to go get ice cream the other night. It was fun, even if he likes Chocolate Mint.”

“What’s wrong with Chocolate Mint?”

“Are you kidding, it tastes like toothpaste? He made me try some of his, and I nearly spat it out.”

“Well, what did you have?”

“Coffee.”

“You’re as bad as Penelope.”

“Yeah, she’s the one who got me into it.” He looked at Josie curiously. “How’s Penelope?”

Josie blushed, “We aren’t dating.”

“Okay, true, but you aren’t exactly just friends either. So, how are things?”

“Isn’t she telling you everything already?”

“Yeah, but she’s a mess and it’s really nothing new. I’ve been hearing it for ages. You though, I haven’t heard a good Penelope rant from in months. So, please?” Landon gave her his best puppy dog face. It wasn’t very convincing, but Josie kinda did want to rant about Penelope, so she decided to do just that.

“It’s actually really good right now. I know she’s going through a really hard time with her family and everything, but she’s actually been talking to me about it, and she’s not shutting off. And she’s so sweet, I’d actually forgotten how much I liked her flirting. It’s adorable.”

He beamed at her, “You should know that she’s been saying a lot of the same about you.”

Josie blushed, “Really?”

“Yeah. She’s been talking about how you’re actually trying to put your needs first, and how adorable and flustered you get when she flirts with you.”

Josie would argue, but she definitely did get flustered. She was pretty sure that was half of why Penelope did it in the first place. 

“You know, ever since I met the two of you, I knew you were going to be together,” he told her thoughtfully. Josie laughed.

“Really? You saw two twelve-year-old girls who wouldn’t stop talking, and were so so annoying, and you just knew?”

He nodded, smiling at her, “Yep. I remember when you were first learning to play the ukulele, Penelope would gush about how excited you got when you mastered a chord. The first time you performed for us, she literally slapped MG because he whispered something, and she wanted everyone to hear you.”

Josie laughed, “I remember that. He was so sulky, but I was so happy, because my friends had heard me.”

“And you, well, Penelope would do some dumb thing to get everyone’s attention, and you would smile at her, and you’d roll your eyes in this playful way. Or, she’d make a joke, and you were the first one to laugh, every time. Watching the two of you, how you seemed to fit each other perfectly; that’s where I think I learned that love was real.”

Josie rolled her eyes, “You’re so corny.”

“I’m not lying though.”

Josie shrugged, trying to force down the insecurity threatening to rise up, “Well, we’re not in love yet.”

He gave her a knowing smile, “Give her time. She may not be able to say it, but it’s in the corner of her eyes, it’s in that smile she reserves for you, and it’s in every little reassuring touch. It’s there, trust me.”

Josie was about to thank him for saying that, when a hush fell upon the crowd. Her stomach, which had settled back to just light butterflies, as there always was when she was talking about Penelope, was back to feeling like she was on a ship getting tossed around by waves. 

She looked up to the front. Her mother was sitting on the bench with the board, eyes focused on Mrs Greasley, who stepped up and placed her hands on the podium, leaning into the microphone.

“Settle down, ladies and gentleman.” She waited until there was not another sound in the room left before she continued. “We are here today to hold the hearing of one Kol Mikaelson. We have found that on his official school resume, he embellished upon and lied about details that led to his employment.” 

Mummers ran around the audience and Josie really wished that she had someone’s hand to hold onto. She’d take Landon’s, but that would be weird, because while they were friends, they weren’t that close. 

Her eyes somehow managed to find Penelope again, but Penelope didn’t notice. She was too busy staring stone-faced at the front of the room. 

Josie turned back to face Mrs Greasley.

“Mr Mikaelson, do you agree that you lied on your resume?”

Kol cleared his throat, “In my line of work, I find that a few embellishments here and there are to be expected.”

“You did not answer the question. Did you, or did you not, lie on your resume?”

Kol cleared his throat again, and Josie saw him shifting in her seat.

“A little lie here and there never hurt anyone.”

“Mr Mikaelson, I will not ask you again.”

“Is it really the worst crime?” 

Everyone turned to see the new speaker. Ms Claire was standing up in the middle of the chairs. She surveyed everyone, and then faced Mrs Greasley with a calm expression on her face.

“I don’t know what he’s done in the past. All I know for sure is what he’s done here. And from what I can see and what I’ve heard, he’s an excellent teacher, and I do not believe that he should be fired.”

Josie smiled to herself. It seemed that their plan to get her involved had worked. However, Mrs Greasley did not look any more convinced.

“Ms Claire, it does not matter how good a teacher he was. I advise you to be seated.”

“I think he’s brilliant.” 

Josie’s head shot to see that Penelope’s dad was standing up. He looked a bit dazed, as if he hadn’t meant to say that out loud, but when he realised that he was in the spotlight, he nodded.

“My kid loves drama, but she’s always complaining about the lack of talent in teachers. Ever since Mr Mikaelson here joined, I haven’t heard one complaint. She’s actually mentioned many times how much she likes him.”

Josie looked to see that Penelope was staring at her dad. She looked back to meet Josie’s eyes, and Josie could see the surprise and joy. Josie smiled.

“My daughters have been saying the same thing. They love the play, and they think Mr Mikaelson is a wonderful teacher.”

Josie smiled at her mother, glad that she was saying something. It wasn’t too surprising, when Caroline wanted to have her opinion heard, it would indeed be heard. 

“Mr Park, please sit down, the parents are hear to watch, not to comment. Mrs Forbes-Laughlin, the time for your voice to be heard is not right now.”

Josie knew that her moment was coming, but not just yet.

Just a little longer.

“Mr Mikaelson, did you lie on your resume?”

Kol sighed, “Look, I did some things that I am not proud of, but at the end of the day, it’s about the kids. I just want them to have a chance, to have a chance to be themselves. Is that really such a crime?” His voice was starting to rise, and Josie knew he was probably close to losing it. And when a Mikaelson lost it, bad things happened.

“Mr Mikaelson, please calm down.”

Kol spluttered, and Josie knew they couldn’t let this go on any longer.

She looked to Penelope. Penelope was already looking at her. 

She nodded; eyes full of silent belief.

Josie could do this.

She closed her eyes, and focused, taking deep breaths.

And then she started to hum. 

She started quiet, and then slowly grew louder, feeling her throat vibrating as she did so. 

Her eyes opened and she rose to her feet.

Mrs Greasley tapped the microphone and said something, but Josie couldn’t hear her.

Because everyone else was standing up, all humming as well. Josie looked to Penelope and nodded. She saw Penelope give a thumbs up to Lizzie and Josie heard the sound of posters being revealed.

Music started blasting from a boombox, and Josie moved out of her seat, all of the others with her, just as they’d practiced. 

Landon and Rafael ran to get the table in front of Kol, and move it away. Other crew members moved chairs and such out of the way to make room.

Josie found herself next to Penelope, just as they had planned. Penelope’s hand ran across the back of Josie’s and Josie felt electricity run through it.

This was the moment.

Lizzie began to sing, “Don’t say another word.”

Josie stepped forwards, raising her hands to gesture to the students.

“Some of us need to be heard.”

“You want his big confession,” Lizzie continued.

“He never saw Dear Evan Hansen,” Hope sang, stepping up next to Josie’s other side, giving her a grin.

Penelope, Josie and Hope began to sing in harmony, “Whatever you think about him, this show can’t go on without him.”

They paused for breath, the music stopping for a moment.

Everything blurred for Josie, and she felt like she was stuck between seconds. 

Nerves rolled through her stomach.

Then Penelope touched her hand again. 

Josie looked up and saw her smile.

And everything snapped back.

Suddenly they were all moving, just as they had practiced, and it was almost flawless. Josie watched her team, watched their moves, and did hers in turn, harmonising where she needed to. 

Her and Penelope were meant to be next to each other for most of the dance, and they moved like they had been made to dance with each other. She didn’t get the chance to catch Penelope’s eye, which was probably good, because she knew that she’d definitely just lose focus.

And so, would Penelope, if she was being honest. Penelope seemed to have a habit of forgetting how to move her feet when she caught Josie’s eyes.

Josie moved up the back, hopping up the stairs, preparing for her next solo. Her eyes followed the movements of the rest of the dancers, and she felt her heart swelling with pride. They had worked so hard for this, had come up with their own song and dance, and had learnt it within two days.

She was so proud. Not just of them, but of herself. Her heart felt like it was going to burst with emotion, and her skin buzzed like she was touching an electric fence. She deserved this feeling.

“What’s my motivation? He provides the inspiration,” Josie sang, grinned widely, and letting her voice sound through the hall. She wanted everyone in the school to hear her, wanted to hear her finally getting her chance to shine.

The music swelled from the boombox, and Josie could hear those who weren’t dancing, cheering and whooping. She could have sworn that she heard someone cheering her name, but she didn’t look to see who it was.

Instead, she watched as Penelope jumped onto one of the tables, something that had not been planned, but well, Penelope had always possessed her own special flair. Josie danced past, and Penelope held out her hand.

It was a split-second decision, except it had never really been a decision in the first place. If Penelope was to offer her hand, Josie would always take it.  
Always.

Penelope pulled her up, and Josie wanted to swoon over how easily Penelope did so, but she had a song to continue singing. 

She looked as she sang, to see her mothers, looking like they were going to explode with excitement. Josette had a phone in hand, and it was directed at her. Josie was definitely going to be asking for that footage later, because she wanted to see this.

Penelope’s dad looked dazed, but he was watching it all with a smile, so Josie assumed that he liked it. She made a mental note to mention to him that Penelope had been the one to organise it. He’d definitely be proud of her.

Ms Claire, who Josie was pretty sure had put together the dots about something happening, was watching them with arms folded, but a small impressed smile on her face.

And Kol, well, he was watching them as if he couldn’t get enough, like he wanted to see more, like the song they were singing was one that had echoed in his mind for years, and they’d finally put a tune to it.

He met Josie’s eyes, and he smiled, specifically at her, and Josie felt a sense of pride.

Penelope jumped off the table to run towards him, and Josie followed, as planned. The cast who had been dancing surrounded him, pulling him out of his seat, and all but screaming the last chorus at him.

Kol yelled something, but none of them heard him. Josie took from the look on his face that it was positive.

Josie dropped to her knees and threw her arms towards him in perfect time with the rest of them. The final note of the song echoed through the hall, and the music from the boombox stopped.

For a moment, all Josie could hear was the pounding of her heart, and her rushed breaths. 

Then, someone began to clap. And suddenly, all at once, the hall was echoing with cheers and applause. If this was what the curtain call would feel like, Josie couldn’t wait.

She rose to her feet, and smiled at Kol. He looked between the students; eyes wide. 

Josie heard the sound of running feet, and then all the students who had been standing at the top of the stairs, were there, posters most likely lying forgotten on the ground somewhere.

Someone, threw their arms around Josie, and Josie heard Lizzie’s voice in her ear saying something unintelligible.

There was the sound of a microphone tapping.

“Order! Please!” 

Everyone turned to look at Mrs Greasley, who was watching them with a less than impressed expression. Josie hoped that MG didn’t get into too much trouble with his mother tonight.

“That was an extraordinary performance, but this is an official meeting. This is not a musical.”

For a moment, Josie’s heart dropped. 

Was this all for nothing?

Was Kol still going to be fired?

Was this the last great performance that they would have together?

Then, at the other end of the board, a young man stood up and leaned into the microphone.

“Mrs Greasley, I have two questions.”

Mrs Greasley sighed, “Yes?” Josie could hear that she was trying to hide her annoyance.

The young man grinned, “How do you expect us to fire a man who inspires such greatness in these kids? And, for the kids in question, where do I get a ticket for opening night?"

Josie wanted to scream, or jump for joy, or maybe hug this guy, who she was pretty sure was called Mr Rosza. 

Mrs Greasley looked to the board, who Josie now realised were all wearing excited expressions. Caroline looked like she was about to explode with pride, and Josie was pretty sure that her and Lizzie were going to have two very excited parents that night. Mrs Greasley sighed again and leaned back into the microphone.

“I will now call for a vote. All in favour of relieving Mr Mikaelson of his position?”

Josie waited with baited breath as one sour looking man rose his hand. Surprisingly, Mrs Greasley did not raise her own hand. Perhaps after seeing her son’s performance, she realised that Kol was not the devil.

“And all in favour of letting him return to his job?”

Nearly every hand on the board rose. Mrs Greasley nodded.

“Very well. Mr Mikaelson, you may return to your job, effective immediately.” She looked to the cast. “As for you young people, make this school proud.”

The cast erupted into cheering. Josie was getting hugged from all sides. She was pretty sure that she was going to go deaf from all this yelling. 

Eventually, people began to pull back and individually hug. Josie gripped her sister, who Josie was pretty sure was almost in tears. MG basically jumped into her arms, and Rafael engulfed her in a bear hug that nearly crushed all her bones. Hope basically tackled her to the ground, and Landon patted her on the back while telling her ‘I knew you could do this’. 

Josie sort of felt like she was flying. Her mothers were suddenly there, both of them hugging her, and then hugging Lizzie, then hugging both of them. Josie was pretty sure that she could hear crying, as well as them telling them how proud they were a million times.

When Josie was able to pull back, she realised that she hadn’t hugged Penelope yet. Which, she didn’t need to do, but like, she really wanted to. Her eyes fell upon the girl she was looking for, just as Maya practically leaped into her arms. 

Josie watched as Penelope grinned into Maya’s shoulder, and when they pulled back, Penelope told her something with the biggest smile on her face.

And Josie felt like she got pulled back to earth, just a bit. Which was quite stupid and annoying.

Now, Josie wasn’t usually one for jealousy. Especially not with Penelope, because seriously, that girl flirted with everyone. It was how she was, and Josie had learnt long ago not to be jealous.

But Penelope had always been hers, in a way. Now, while Josie would like to say that, she couldn’t quite do so. There was just this hint of uncertainty about the concept of them getting back together.

And Penelope had kind of gotten close with Maya really quick.

She’d been jealous just a little bit on the day that all this shit with Kol had started, because Maya had backed up Penelope so easily, and had called her Pen so softly. It was stupid, but Josie sort of wanted to hit her.

She shouldn’t be so possessive. Penelope could do what she wanted. And she shouldn’t be jealous either. She should just talk to Penelope.

And she would. Because wasn’t that what this whole new thing between them was about? Communication?

Josie thought that she could ignore this seed of jealousy that had sprouted in her, but now she knew that she needed to take care of it before it became a problem.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by the presence of Penelope in front of her, and she had barely a second to prepare before Penelope all but jumped into her arms. Luckily, her muscle memory from many of these hugs kicked in, and Josie kept her balance.

Her arms wrapped around Penelope, she felt Penelope’s smile against her neck, and her fingers balling in the back of her shirt, and Josie was back to flying.

Holy shit. They’d done it. They’d saved their play. How the hell had they done it?

Josie really didn’t know, and it seemed like she was about to wake up from a dream, and everything would be back to that gross fear filled state. But Penelope’s touch grounded her and convinced her that this was real. They were there.

They fucking won.

Penelope pulled back, “We did it Jojo.”

Josie grinned at her, feeling like her face was going to break from the force of her smile. 

“We did it.”

Penelope nodded, and Josie could have sworn that her eyes flicked down to Josie’s lips, just for a moment. But then she was stepped back, arms falling away from Josie’s shoulders where they had started to rest.

“Come on, I want to talk to my dad.” Penelope’s hand fell into Josie’s and she let herself get dragged across the hall.

Penelope’s dad was talking with Kol at that moment, and Josie and Penelope waited for them to realise that they were there.

Kol realised them first and he turned to them with a bright grin.

“You girls are absolutely brilliant! How the cast pulled this off, I have no idea, but it’s insane!”

Josie grinned and nudged Penelope’s shoulder.

“It was Pen’s idea. She didn’t want to just give up. She’s the one who gathered the cast.”

Penelope blushed and looked down at her feet. Josie didn’t often see Penelope shy, and she had to admit that it was kinda cute.

“That’s my Penelope. She’s always been a natural leader, ever since she was a kid. She never fails to make me proud.”

Josie squeezed Penelope’s hand, practically able to feel the joy that Penelope was feeling when she heard those words. 

“Thanks dad,” she said quietly, and Josie knew that she was holding back tears.

Kol nodded at the two of them, “I’ll be seeing the two of you in rehearsals. We’ve lost a bit of time, but if the cast works like that, well, I think we’ll be golden.” He gave them both a smile and walked off.

Penelope looked up at her dad, “Thanks for saying something earlier.”

He nodded, “Of course Pen, I know how happy this play makes you.” He looked to Josie and gave her a smile. “You did well out there Josie, I can’t wait to see you performing. I’ve always known that you’d get the spotlight.”

She beamed at him, “Thank you Mr Park.”

He chuckled, “Oh come on Josie, you know it’s Richard to you.” 

She smiled, “You know I never call you that.”

He laughed, “No, you never did. Don’t worry, I’ll get there one day.” He looked back to Penelope, who was watching Josie with a smile. “You ready to go kid?”

Penelope looked up at him, “Yeah just give me a minute with Josie.”

He nodded, “I’ll meet you at the car.” He gave Josie one more smile, and then turned and left. 

Penelope watched him as he left, “He’s proud of me.”

“He’s always been proud of you. He’s just been struggling a bit recently.”

Penelope nodded and sighed, “I know. I think he’s recovering. As long as he doesn’t get back to drinking, he should be able to get back to normal by himself.”

Josie sighed, “I wish you didn’t have to worry about these things.”

Penelope shrugged and finally looked at Josie.

“It’s okay, I’ve got you.”

Josie blushed, “Flirt.”

“Always for you.” She watched Josie with a soft intensity, like Josie was a memory that she needed to encode deep into her mind.

“What?” 

Penelope grinned, “You were fucking amazing.”

Josie smiled back, “You think so?”

“Of course, I do. It’s the truth. You and I make one hell of a team.”

“Well, that bodes very well for the play, now doesn’t it?”

Penelope nodded, “It does.” She sighed. “I’d better get going. Dad and I are going out to a restaurant tonight.”

“Well, I hope you have a lovely time.”

“Maybe next time you can come with?” Penelope rose a hopeful eyebrow.

Josie laughed and nodded, “I’d like that.”

Penelope beamed at her. She looked like she was about to leave, but then, she went up on her tiptoes and kissed Josie’s forehead. 

Josie felt like her brain literally froze. Penelope dropped back to her feet, gave Josie a wink, and then all but skipped away.

Josie was just stuck staring after her, feeling her skin tingling where Penelope’s lips had touched it. Holy shit.

Penelope Park had just given her a forehead kiss. How on earth was Josie supposed to comprehend that?

Penelope had, of course, given Josie forehead kisses before. But that was long ago. This was now. Penelope had just given her a forehead kiss. And invited her to dinner with her dad.

Josie needed to calm down, this was not at all that serious.

“Did I just see Penelope kiss your forehead?”

Josie jumped when Lizzie suddenly appeared at her shoulder.

“Uh…maybe.”

“And are you staring after her like a flustered idiot?”

“No.”

“You totally are.”

“Shut up.”

“You’re so in love.”

“What part of shut up did you not get?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kol kept his job and now the show can officially go on! Yay!  
> Next chapter, we're gonna have a bit of a time jump. Also, it's time for just a sprinkling of angst, which may or may not get worse as we go along. I guess you guys will just have to wait and see!  
> Until next week, remember that good things are always coming your way and remember to just take a moment to breathe!


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy y'all! It's that time of the week!  
> Enjoy!

Everything went back to normal. Rehearsals continued, except now, it felt like the group had finally connected. They danced like they were of one mind, they sang in perfect harmony, and no one was tripping over their lines.

If it took nearly losing their play for people to get their act into gear, then maybe Josie was okay with that. Because they’d kept it, and it was better than ever.

Kol came to rehearsals every day with a renewed fire. He pushed for perfection, and he was always ready to suggest improvements. Josie suspected that he was under a lot of pressure from the school for this play to be perfect. He couldn’t afford anymore slip ups; this was his second chance, and there would not be another.

Josie’s life had finally settled down in terms of drama outside of the theatre room, which was great, because suddenly she had assignments due for every subject, and seemingly no time to work on them. She was up late most nights, finding sources for her essays, or studying for tests. This year was important, her grades mattered, and she couldn’t afford to slip up.

Lizzie and Hope had fallen into a new era of their weird pining. In this era, Lizzie actually flirted with Hope, and made Hope look like she was about to spontaneously combust. Hope hadn’t said anything to Josie about it, but she’d said plenty to Penelope, which Josie had of course heard second hand. 

Penelope and Josie had decided that when it came to Hope and Lizzie, they could keep secrets to a minimum, unless it was something super personal. So, they talked, well, more complained, about all of the pining and uselessness coming from both sides.

Josie couldn’t wait for the day that Hope learned how to flirt. Lizzie might actually die on the spot.

Josie and Penelope, well, they’d been going just as they had been before. Which was to say, they were friends, and they flirted, and Josie got butterflies whenever they touched, but they just were friends. At least Penelope was more open with her. It seemed that Penelope had less days when she got really bad and shut off. She’d talked to Josie about her assignment stress, and Josie had helped her remember that her grades didn’t define her, and that she didn’t need to be perfect.

In turn, Penelope reminded Josie to give herself breaks, and that she didn’t need to keep pushing herself, and that it was okay to be not fine. One afternoon, Penelope had come over and Josie had just cried into her arms. 

That had been nice. It very cathartic to just let everything out as Penelope rubbed her back, whispering reassurances into her ear.

Now, Josie knew that it took time to heal, and it took time to change, but she couldn’t help but be a little impatient. She loved Penelope. She just wanted to be with her, wanted to be able to properly call Penelope hers again. 

Yes, she knew that she had her own issues, that she still tended to let others take precedence over her, and that she often refused to talk about how she was going, but she was getting better. A lot better.

And she was starting to think that maybe she’d be ready to try something again with Penelope.

Penelope on the other hand, did not seem to be in that mindset at all.

She flirted, sure, and sometimes she’d look at Josie, and Josie could just feel the affection rolling off of her. But, despite all the things that had been improving, she still shut off. She refused to talk to Josie about her mother, she got awkward and quiet if they ever talked about her self-image issues, and Josie got the feeling that she still didn’t think she was worth Josie.

Josie just wanted to talk to her about it, but with everything else, she didn’t think they had time. But she really wanted to. She just wanted to find a moment with Penelope, sit down with her, and ask her where her mind was at, because Josie just wanted to be on the same page again.

Then there was the thing with Maya. 

Josie, despite herself, had actually been warming up to Maya. She had a sharp sense of humour, much like Lizzie, and was actually super talented. And, when she wasn’t being a passive aggressive bitch to Josie, she could actually be really nice. She’d hyped Josie up plenty, and had even admitted that she thought Josie was a way better Gabriella than she could have been.

So, everything should be fine, right? 

But no. Josie’s brain had to pick now to start getting jealous. Because Maya and Penelope had gotten super close. They had inside jokes, and sometimes Maya was just a bit too touchy, and it felt like there was this way they related to each other that Josie just couldn’t.

It was so stupid. After all the times Josie had gotten mad at Penelope for being jealous, and all the times that Penelope had been vocal about her feelings, now Josie was getting jealous. 

Maybe the jealousy was tied in with her feeling out of sync with Penelope. Maybe she just felt this good thing, this amazing thing, was so close to her, and she was terrified that someone was just going to swoop in and take it. Someone prettier, and funnier, and great with people, someone who moved like she should be a backup dancer for Beyonce.

Lizzie didn’t trust Maya either, for what it was worth. She’d never truly forgiven her for all the stuff she did earlier in the year, and she thought that Maya was a little too close to Penelope. 

Hope, well, Hope told Josie not to doubt herself, and that Penelope wasn’t about to fall for someone else. So, Josie should just trust that, right?

Ugh. Stupid jealous hormonal teenage brain with memories of how she was always the second choice. 

+++

Josie sometimes forgot that she was on stage. Not in a bad way, where she forgot her lines and went off script and made a total fool of herself. More like, she sometimes felt like she was truly a part of the scene, like everything there was real, and her lines flowed so easily.

This type of thing usually happened when she was with Penelope. Just Penelope. When Penelope was flirting with her, or singing at her, and Josie just felt like everything was right. Like, under those lights, they were perfect, and none of the underlying problems were there at all.

Like right now. 

They were doing the opening scene of the play. The one where Troy and Gabriella were forced to sing together at karaoke, and they fall in love for the night. 

Penelope had really settled into the role of Troy. She played him with charismatic smiles, and loving eyes. Really, it was like she was made for the role. 

And here she was, singing Start of Something New to Josie, grinning at Josie, and Josie had felt like she was right where she was meant to be.

Josie, was of course, singing along with her, and there were backup dancers doing something dramatic, but Josie somehow managed to not focus on that. Her singing came easily, she’d practiced this song a million times. She just wanted to focus on Penelope.

Penelope performed every scene just a bit differently each time. Most people wouldn’t notice, because it wasn’t like she was changing lines or blocking, but Josie did. She’d change up the way she said lines, make different facial expressions, she’d stand differently, she’d just do little things to make it unique every time.

The one thing that never changed was the emotion. And Josie supposed that was good, because acting was all about the emotion. They’d always been taught, find what it is that your character wants in that scene, and then show through your acting how you’re going to get it. 

If Josie had to guess, she’d say that Penelope, or rather, Troy, wanted to be free. She sang like she’d just been set free from a cage, and when she wasn’t looking at Josie with love, she was staring into what would be the audience with wonder in her eyes.

It was exhilarating to act with Penelope as your scene partner. She made every scene come alive, made Josie feel like she was right there, in that moment. 

Josie spun around, and suddenly the song was finished, and her and Penelope were barely an inch apart looking into each other’s eyes. 

That was one thing that was hard about acting with Penelope. Their scenes were always infused with such affection, both real and acted. Which mean that in moments like this, it was really hard to stop herself from just leaning in and kissing Penelope.

So, she took a step back, before Penelope’s eyes even had the time to do that little flick down to Josie’s lips that she always saw them doing.

Kol stood from his chair, clapping.

“Ladies, that was excellent! Alright, so, we’ll give you two a bit of a break, let’s have a run through of Bop to the Top!”

Penelope and Josie walked off the stage, and Penelope immediately turned to Josie with a grin.

“You hear that? We’re excellent.”

Josie laughed, “Of course we are. We did that so well.”

Penelope shrugged, “Could be better.”

Josie stared at her, “How?”

“I slipped up on a couple of the dance moves, and I stumbled on some of the lines.”

Josie just laughed again, “Pen, trust me, no one will notice.”

“I noticed.”

Josie knew she wasn’t going to get through Penelope’s perfectionist shell. She sighed.

“You alright?”

Josie looked up at Penelope, who was watching her curiously.

“What?”

“Your eyes just dropped, and you made that face you make when you’re disappointed.”

Josie didn’t know whether to be happy to know that Penelope knew her so well, or worried about the fact that Penelope might take this the wrong way.

When she didn’t reply for a second, Josie watched understanding dawn in Penelope’s eyes, and the concern slipped off of her face, replaced by something close to discomfort.

“Right. It’s me.”

“Penelope, no.”

“What? Am I wrong?”

“I was thinking about you, but I am not disappointed in you.”

Penelope watched Josie for a second, and then sighed, “But you aren’t overly happy with me.” She said it like it was a fact, and Josie frowned. 

“What are you talking about?”

Penelope gave Josie a sad smile, “Josie, I know you better than anyone. Plus, it seems to be a pattern with you.”

“Penelope, can you please not speak in riddles?”

Penelope nodded, casting her gaze away from Josie, “I don’t know what it is, but there’s something you aren’t telling me. Or, multiple somethings. Whatever it is, it’s about me, and it’s not good.”

Damn Penelope and her ability to read people like children’s books.

“Penelope, it’s not bad,” Josie started, but Penelope’s gaze switched right back to her with intensity.

“Josie, I’m not a child, there is no need for sugar-coating.” Josie could practically hear Penelope’s insecurities when she spoke. They’d been happy about two seconds ago. Why had this all suddenly changed?

“I just…I just don’t feel like we’re on the same page about some things.”

“What things?”

“I—things like…I don’t know.” Josie wanted to stamp her foot out of frustration. Why couldn’t she put all the things that she had been thinking into a simple sentence?

Penelope gave Josie a tired smile, “Okay. I know you, and I know that you definitely know what it is, but I won’t push. You gotta find the words yourself. When you do, I’ll listen, alright?” Her smile turned apologetic. “I’m sorry for getting sharp with you. I’ve just been noticing things for a bit, and I’m still struggling with maintaining the doubt and all that shit.”

Penelope turned to leave, but Josie reached out and loosely wrapped her hand around Penelope’s wrist. Penelope looked back.

“I’m sorry too. I’m not disappointed in you, I promise. I’m just…frustrated.”

“By me?” Penelope gave her a teasing grin, but Josie still worried that she was serious.

“No, not like that. More like… have you ever wanted something really badly, but you know you can’t have it yet? Like, you know you have to wait, and you know you have to be patient, but it’s killing you?”

Penelope chuckled and turned back to fully face Josie. Her hands found Josie’s and her thumbs traced patterns across the back of her hands.

“Josie, you are aware that I watched you date another girl for weeks, and that I still have feelings for you even now?”

Josie blushed, “Yes.”

“Then you should know that I know exactly how that feels.” Penelope sighed, her face turning serious. “Look, I know I’m making kind of slow progress, I know, don’t deny it. But I promise you, I’m trying. I want to be better; I want to get better.” 

“I know you are. And you’ve done well.”

Penelope nodded, “I still want this. I still want us. You still want that too, right?”

Josie smiled, “More than anything.”

“Then we’ll be alright. We just have to keep having these conversations.”

Josie sighed, “I’m sorry for—”

“Nope, none of that, you didn’t do anything wrong. I’m not expecting perfection.”

Josie fixed Penelope with a look, “Except from yourself.”

Penelope looked down and sighed, “Like I said, slow progress. And I'm really sorry for snapping at you. These last few weeks have really been getting to me, and sometimes I just get stuck inside my head. It's nothing wrong with you, so, I'm sorry, you didn't deserve that.”

“Apology accepted. And don't worry, you'll get there."

“I will.” She looked back up and squeezed Josie’s hands. “And I’ll be with you. Together, alright?”

Josie nodded, “Together.”

+++

That afternoon, Josie was trying to put the finishing touches on her English assignment when Lizzie threw her door and walked in.

“Knocking is polite, you know?”

“What was I going to see that would be so scandalous, you don’t even have a girlfriend or boyfriend right now?”

“Not the point.”

“Your point is irrelevant. My point, however, is very relevant. Listen up.”

Josie saved her file, and closed her laptop, sitting up.

“Our mums are going to be out of town on Halloween. Aunt Bonnie invited them up to her place. Which means, that we have the place all to ourselves.” Lizzie seemed very excited, but Josie wasn’t sure what she was getting at.

“Okay?”

Lizzie picked up one of her decorative pillows and threw it at her.

“Josie, this means we can have a Halloween party!”

Josie immediately frowned, “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” Her mind filled with images of a completely destroyed house after the party, alcohol soaked into the rugs, her mothers literally killing her and Lizzie.

Lizzie shook her head, and waved Josie’s complaint away, “Not like, a big one. Just a small one, with the drama kids. We all pretty much get along anyway, and I can just not invite Jade.”

“Lizzie, be nice.”

“She’s your ex.”

“Yes, my ex who I am now on good terms with. And before you say anything, we’re inviting Alyssa and Maya as well.”

Lizzie huffed, “You’re too nice.”

“If it’s going to be a drama party, let everyone come.”

Lizzie flopped down on Josie’s bed. Josie just waited.

“Okay, fine, everyone can come. Happy?”

“Sounds good to me. Do we want to let everyone know now, or tomorrow at rehearsals?”

“We’ll let our close friends know now, and everyone else at rehearsals. That way Penelope won’t throw a temper tantrum at not being able to get a good costume in time.”

Josie rolled her eyes, “She already has one, but she’s refusing to tell me what it is.”

Lizzie sat up, “Why does she already have one?”

“It’s Penelope. If she didn’t get an invite to a party, she’d probably just roam the streets getting candy.”

Lizzie sighed, “You’re right. Still, her and Hope would probably like to know.”

“And Landon, and Raf, and MG.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, you destroyed my transition.” Lizzie pouted. Josie frowned.

“What transition?”

Lizzie looked at Josie like she was asking what colour the sky was.

“You know, my transition to talking about Hope?”

Yeah, Josie should have seen that coming. There had been a fair bit of talk about Hope ever since Lizzie had truly come to terms with her bisexuality and her crush. Josie sat up, so she could properly engage in the conversation.

“Is this just going to be another pointless rant?”

Lizzie gasped, “How dare you assume that any rant about Hope is pointless?”

Josie had to physically suppress an eye roll.

“Right, of course not.”

“Besides, you had a crush on her once, you get it,” Lizzie mumbled. This time Josie had to suppress a laugh. It was almost adorable how her sister was jealous of her childhood crush on Hope.

“Lizzie, for the last time, I’m in love with Penelope.”

Lizzie brightened up, just a touch. 

“And how is she?”

Josie shrugged, smiling, “She’s good. We almost had a fight this afternoon, but we talked it out pretty much immediately.”

Lizzie shook her head, “The fact that you two can communicate baffles me. I still remember you being thirteen and getting upset because you thought that Penelope’s best friend was Landon.” Lizzie wrinkled her nose as if the very thought disgusted her even now. 

“I was genuinely concerned that I was getting replaced!”

“It was stupid Josette. But enough about you and Satan, I want to talk about me and Hope.”

Josie chuckled, knowing this was a perfect opening for a jibe in Lizzie’s expense.

“You say that as if there’s such thing as you and Hope.” She moved out of the way of the pillow that Lizzie hurled at her with a laugh.

“You’re the worst.”

“I’m done being annoying. Go, tell me about you and Hope.”

Lizzie rolled her eyes, “Okay, so, I’ve been thinking, and I’ve decided that I want to ask her out.”

Josie’s eyes widened.

“Are you serious?”

“Deadly.”

“You’re going to ask her out?”

“After the party, I’m going to ask her if she wants to go for a walk or if I can drive her home, or I don’t know, something to get her alone. And then I’m going to do some amazing romantic speech, and I’m going to ask her out.”

Josie was actually pretty surprised. She had thought that Lizzie and Hope would be stuck in this pining stage for a while longer.

“What changed your mind?”

Lizzie shrugged, flicking some hair behind her shoulder.

“Hope gets way too flustered when I flirt with her for her not to have feelings for me. And she still looks at me like she’s in love. I don’t want to make us wait any longer, I just want to do it. I want to be with her.” Lizzie’s confident expression switched into a nervous one, with yearning in her eyes.

Josie smiled at her sister, “I’m really proud of you Liz.”

Lizzie nodded, “Thank you. I’m proud of me too.”

“Just to clarify, you’re going to keep flirting with Hope at the party?”

“Oh, of course.”

“Good. Seeing Hope getting all flustered is one of the highlights of my day.”

“The main highlight being getting to see Penelope?”

“Shut up Lizzie.”

+++

The idea of a Halloween party went down wonderfully with the drama kids. They’d all apparently had costumes planned, but nowhere besides their own homes and streets to wear.

Josie was pretty excited. She loved hanging out with this group, and it was a shame that she didn’t often get to do it in a circumstance when they weren’t all stressing over the play. 

The next afternoon, Lizzie was out with Hope, getting snacks for the party. Josie would have been invited, but she knew that Lizzie just wanted alone time with Hope, so she opted to stay at home and spend time with her mums. 

Josie didn’t mind though. Talking to her mums was actually pretty cool. There was always some special insight they could give to a situation. 

Caroline was on the phone to Elena, her other friend who was also going to be at the meetup, so Josie was talking to Josette. Currently, they were doing some baking under the guise of Josie wanting some cupcakes as a reward for getting through an assessment block.

Really, she just wanted to do her part to contribute to the party.

Her mother had put on some of her ‘old people’ music, as she called it jokingly, and the two of them were singing along.

Josette shook her head as a song finished.

“You always get so into these songs.”

Josie pushed herself off of the kitchen counter, and placed the wooden spoon she’d been using as a microphone back down.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Josette laughed, “Alright, sure kid.” She lifted the bowl and started to pour the mix into the cupcake holders that Josie had set out. 

“You were always born for the stage. Some days I wonder if we should have sent you to an arts school or something.”

Josie had thought about that possibility before, and maybe she had done some googling of high-profile schools that were almost nearby, but she’d always thought that it just wasn’t something that was possible for her.

“I’m happy where I am.”

Her mother looked at her thoughtfully, “You’re sure? Because sometimes I know that school gets really tiring for you. They aren’t testing things that you’re passionate about. Maybe you’d be better off somewhere that you excelled.”

Josie frowned, “Where’s all this coming from?”

Her mother shrugged, “I’ve just been thinking about how you’ve been going to the same school all your life. This play is basically the first time you’ve had to flourish. I just wonder if maybe it could open some doors, or if there other opportunities for you to flourish elsewhere."

Josie pulled the sleeves of her sweater over her hands, and looked down at her feet. Maybe she would. Her school didn’t even have a drama elective.

“It’s scary though, isn’t it? New beginnings like that? You don’t know if you’re going to be good.”

Her mother laughed, “Josie darling, you’re going to university in two years. New beginnings are just around the corner. I’m just wondering if maybe you might want a head start.”

Josie pulled at a thread she’d noticed on the edge of her sleeve. 

“I don’t know. I’ve just kind of always thought that I’d be going to East High. It’s almost my home, in a really weird way.”

“Well, maybe think about it. Your mother and I only want the best for you. What would be holding you back?”

Before Josie even had time to think about her answer, her phone buzzed. She slipped it out of her pocket, and smiled at the name that had popped up on screen.

**Pen <3😊: why did hope just send me a picture of your sister balancing six bags of doritos?**

**Pen <3😊: im not complaining, because its excellent blackmail material, but i feel that i should be concerned**

“Is that Penelope?”

Josie looked up to see her mother watching her with a smile. Josie blushed.

“Maybe.”

Her mother leaned forwards on the counter.

“How are the two of you?”

Josie looked down, feeling herself growing nervous.

“We’re good.”

“Any closer to that relationship title again?”

Josie shook her head.

“Would she be one of the things holding you back?”

Josie looked up, “Of course not. Penelope is not holding me back.” She didn’t know how to explain that Penelope was probably one of the most supportive people in her life without sounding gushy and gross, so she just left it at that.

Her mother nodded, but she didn’t seem convinced.

“If you were worried about that, I’m sure she’d want the best for you.”

“I didn’t even say that I was thinking about changing schools.”

“You weren’t overly resistant to it.”

Josie didn’t have a response to that. A chance to shine ever brighter would be fantastic. But the idea of leaving East High, of changing her whole life? That was terrifying.

“I just think that you should think about it.”

Josie just nodded. Her mother sighed.

“Alright, I just need to put the cupcakes in the oven. I’ll call you down to help with the icing. You can go text Penelope.”

Josie smiled, “Thanks mum.”

She sprinted up the stairs, and actually jumped onto her bed, just because she could. The springs let out a creak, and Josie immediately sat up, staring at her bed like it was about to break right beneath her. 

When she didn’t topple to the ground, she decided that she was safe, and looked back at her phone. Penelope had texted her a few more times.

**Pen <3😊: jojoooooo r u ignoring me**

**Pen <3😊: im bored and i know you have no homework, you told me at rehearsal**

**Pen <3😊: josieeeeee**

Josie laughed to herself. Penelope really could be a child sometimes.

**Josie: youre so needy**

**Pen <3😊: for u always**

**Josie: and flirty**

**Pen <3😊: do i need to repeat my past text**

**Josie: no**

**Pen <3😊: tragic**

**Pen <3😊: u excited for the party**

**Josie: ofc**

**Josie: and i know you are**

**Pen <3😊: oh i am very excited**

**Pen <3😊: you’re going to love my costume**

**Josie: if it’s not you as a life sized basketball i will be disappointed**

**Pen <3😊: oh yes definitely**

**Pen <3😊: on a completely unrelated note, let me run to the store**

**Josie: you’re an idiot**

**Pen <3😊: and it’s been too long since i partied with you**

**Josie: it’s not going to be as dramatic as usual**

**Pen <3😊: i would argue otherwise, it’s literally drama students**

**Josie: you aren’t wrong there**

Penelope didn’t text her back for a few minutes, and Josie was actually disappointed. She thought about double texting, but decided against it. Penelope didn’t need to be talking to her every minute of every day.

She heard the door to the house open, and Lizzie’s boisterous shout. So, she was home. Maybe Josie could go bother her sister before she iced the cupcakes with her mother.

Just as she was about to try and convince herself to get up, her phone buzzed again.

**Pen <3😊: sorry, my dad was trying to talk to me**

**Josie: i thought you and your dad were cool now**

**Pen <3😊: we were until he started trying to get me to call my mum**

**Pen <3😊: saying all this shit about how she’s still my mother**

**Pen <3😊: id believe him if she hadn’t stopped being my mother a long time ago**

Josie felt so bad for Penelope. Her parents had always been fairly stable. She hadn’t grown up with a parent who didn’t know how to act like one. 

As much as she wanted to help Penelope, she knew that these scars wouldn’t be healing for a while.

**Josie: that really sucks**

**Josie: do you know why he’s being so insistent all of a sudden?**

**Pen <3😊: not a clue**

**Pen <3😊: maybe he thinks i need closure**

**Pen <3😊: idk i might call her, just to get him off my back**

**Pen <3😊: knowing that bitch, she wont pick up**

**Josie: is it bad if i say i hope she doesn’t?**

**Pen <3😊: for my sake, i really hope she doesn’t.**

**Pen <3😊: ugh, sad convo over**

**Pen <3😊: you looked cute today**

**Josie: you already told me that**

**Pen <3😊: it’s worth restating**

**Pen <3😊: even on your most tired day, no muse or model could compete with you**

Josie actually had to remember how to breathe properly. Dammit Penelope Park. Stop being so smooth.

Sometimes Josie’s heart forgot that it had already fallen for Penelope. Because it would just keep picking itself up and dropping back into Penelope’s arms.

Really, she needed to get it under control. 

Even if she never wanted to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you may be able to tell, I was setting up some plot and relationship stuff in this chapter. Hold onto your hats kids, the Halloween party is going to be very interesting.  
> Hmmm, it's been a while since I've hurt Penelope, right? Seems like she's due for some pain, so definitely expect that for the next chapter :)  
> Alrighty, I'm gonna sign off now. Until next week, remember to not be too hard on yourself, and don't let the haters get you down!


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy! Who wants to have some nice Posie Hurt/Comfort? Because there is a fair bit of hurt coming up, but don't worry, I sprinkled in some comfort, just because I'm so nice!  
> Enjoy!

Penelope didn’t know why she called her mother.

Objectively, it was a terrible decision.

Even subjectively, it was a bad decision.

If she was asked to try and find a cause, to point a finger, she’d probably say it all the shit that had been going on leading up to the moment.

You’d probably have to start with the past few weeks.

Everything had been good. The play was good, Penelope’s friendships were good, Josie and her were good, even her dad was good.

Except her dad had picked up this annoying habit, where he mentioned that it would be nice for Penelope to call her mother. She really didn’t know what it was about. Her dad didn’t even like her mother. And he knew that she didn’t like her either.

But he kept bringing it up. So, that thought was just constantly circling through her head.

Her and Josie had been good, but that didn’t mean there hadn’t been little bumps in the road. Like the other day, when Penelope had gotten offended for no reason at all.

The thing about that was, she wanted to be ready for Josie, so fucking badly. She wanted to look at Josie, and say those words that they were both dying to hear.

She’d tried it, just to herself of course. Had stared at herself in the mirror, and mouthed the words. It was fine there. When she tried to make noise come out, it was a little harder. It was like her brain was just deleting the order to speak.

She knew that Josie wasn’t ready either, but she was probably closer to it than Penelope was. And Penelope hated feeling like she wasn’t good enough, hated feeling like the one thing she wanted was out of reach. She’d done it for too long this year. 

She just wanted Josie back in her arms, wanted to kiss her, to smile against her lips, to feel Josie’s warm skin against her fingertips, and know that they belonged to each other once more.

Josie was disappointed because Penelope was still unable to say the words, and Penelope couldn’t blame her, because she was disappointed in herself as well. But they’d talked about it.

They’d been doing so much of that recently. Penelope had thought that they used to talk a lot, but somehow, there were so many more words for them to say.

Penelope told Josie about all her dreams and fears, talked about the expectations she had set for herself, tried her best to show Josie the parts of her that she’d previously kicked behind her walls, as if they were just bits of clothing on her bedroom floor.

Josie talked, and Penelope would always listen, would always care. Josie talked about how she felt trapped in this town sometimes, how sometimes she felt like there was something so much more that she could be. She talked about how she sometimes got scared that once she left school, everyone would leave. She talked and talked, and Penelope wanted nothing more than for her to keep talking even more.

God, sometimes it really scared her so much, just how much of Penelope’s heart was in Josie’s control. Josie could really fuck her up. She’d seen how bad her dad got after her mum announced that she was leaving, and he hadn’t loved her for years.

What if Josie left, what if next time when they broke, it was for good? 

What if despite all the fighting and all the trying, they just didn’t work?

This was just another part of the puzzle that led to a break down.

First, her dad wanting her to call her mum.

Second, her fear of being in a relationship with Josie, crashing violently against her need to be with Josie every second.

And then third, the seemingly insignificant catalyst.

Penelope had been through enough breakdowns to know that most times, the thing that triggered it was just something stupid, a mountain made out of a molehill.

And this was the case here.

It was the night of the Halloween party. Penelope had chosen her outfit weeks ago, and she couldn’t wait for Josie to see it. That girl was going to faint. It wasn’t anything too fancy, it just showed a lot of skin, and Penelope knew for a fact that Josie would enjoy that a lot.

It didn’t matter if they weren’t dating, or if Penelope wasn’t entirely committed, they had been flirting a lot the past few weeks. Even Josie had been flirting, which was always fun. So, slightly scandalous witch costume it was.

Plus, it had a cape. Penelope loved wearing capes, and Josie definitely thought that capes were hot.

She was texting Josie, unsurprisingly. Josie had mentioned that her mums had sort of busted their plan to host the party. This was due to Lizzie being completely unable to keep a secret. However, they hadn’t even been worried, especially once they’d gotten the guest list, and they’d actually helped to set up a little before they left.

And Penelope’s brain had decided to really overthink. Because her mother would never. If her mother had caught her trying to host a party, it wouldn’t matter who the guests were, or if Penelope was going to be keeping everything safe.

Penelope would be the disappointment, she’d be the problem child, she’d be a devil child, sent to cause her mother misery. There would be a speech about responsibility, and her mother would berate her for not thinking things through about seven times.

She’d never been there. Or, maybe she had been, but Penelope couldn’t remember. She didn’t remember much about her childhood when it involved her own home. The main bits she could recall involved Josie. 

And suddenly, sitting there on her bed, makeup bag sitting unopened next to her, she’d decided to call her mother. 

There was no real reason, Penelope truly didn’t know in that moment why she was doing it.

Maybe she wanted to reach out, to give her mother a millionth chance to actually care.

Or maybe she wanted an explanation, a reason why she had never cared.

Maybe she wanted to hear her mothers voice, and find a bit of comfort, as she imagined a world where she cared.

Or maybe she had decided to punish herself again, even though she couldn’t identify any crime.

The reason really didn’t matter. What mattered was that Penelope hit the call button, and she lifted her phone to her ear.

And she waited.

And waited.

And waited.

She was just about to hang up, to tell herself that at least she’d tried, that it wasn’t her fault that her mother was basically a deadbeat, when she heard the other end pick up.

Her breath caught in her throat as she waited for her mother’s clipped voice. Would she be irritating by Penelope calling? Would she consider it to be late? It wasn’t even eight o’clock yet, surely not. 

Would she just tell Penelope not to call again? 

And then the voice on the other end spoke.

But it didn’t sound like her mother.

It was a male voice, sounding tired and bored.

“Hello? Who is this?”

Penelope’s confused mind didn’t have time to process this new development before words tumbled out of her mouth.

“It’s Penelope. Who is this?”

“This is David. What is your relation to Lynne?”

Penelope was at a loss for words. Who the fuck was David? Why was he picking up her mother’s phone? If he knew her mother well enough to be picking up her phone and answering her calls, why the fuck didn’t he know about her?

“I—I’m her kid.” She sounded so small, so pathetic. Weak.

“Did you say her kid?”

“Yeah.”

Pause.

“I wasn’t aware that Lynne had children.” He sounded like he was half talking to himself.

“Who are you to my mother?”

Another pause. Did this guy really need an extra five seconds to process every question, or was he just a pretentious dick who liked to make people wait?

“Well, I am her boyfriend. We’ve been together for the past three months.”

Penelope had never been shot. She had however, been hit once in the stomach with a baseball, because Rafael and Landon had been messing around, and Landon had hit the ball straight at her. It had left a bruise that lasted for nearly two weeks, and Landon hadn’t stopped apologising for a month. If she had to imagine what getting shot felt like, she’d say it would be that, times ten.

She’d been shot metaphorically though. Like those times when Josie yelled at her, with such hurt in her eyes. Those times when Josie had looked at her like she was nothing. That had really fucking hurt.

None of that compared to right now.

She couldn’t breathe. It felt like she’d been yanked right out of the world, and thrown into space. It felt like her right to exist had just been ripped away from her, and she was doomed to live as a shadow.

Her mother had a boyfriend of three months. 

Three fucking months.

She’d only officially left just over a month ago. She’d only announced the legal separation just over a month ago.

Penelope knew that her mother hadn’t loved her dad for some time now. Really, she should have seen this coming.

But that wasn’t even the worst bit.

This guy had been dating her for three months. This guy had probably known her for longer.

And he had no fucking clue that Penelope existed.

Her mother had just simply erased Penelope from her life, like she was just some irritating stain, or a mistake.

She’d known that she was a mistake in her mother’s eyes for a while, but this stung.

“She did mention her ex-husband. I would be right in saying that you are his child?” He said the words like they were just discussing the weather. Like he hadn’t just fucking ripped out Penelope’s heart.

“Yeah.” Her voice cracked and she cursed herself.

“Are you alright? Lynne’s out right now, but I can take a message for her.”

Penelope didn’t even know how to respond. This guy didn’t even seem phased by the fact that the woman he was dating had a secret kid. Who the fuck even was he? Why the fuck should Penelope care?

“Tell Lynne,” she emphasised the word, promising herself that she’d never refer to her as her mother ever again, “that Penelope wants to let her know that she’s a fucking awful person and I hope I never see her again.”

She hit the hang up button and immediately threw her phone across the bed. It bounced once on the mattress and then dropped to the floor.

Penelope didn’t even move to see the damage. She couldn’t care.

Her mother had just fucking erased her.

Did she even fucking exist?

This was such a stupid train of thought.

She existed.

She had an impact, people cared about her.

Or did they?

Maybe they only cared about what she could give them, and really, they didn’t care about her.

Maybe she was nothing.

Nothing.

Her phone buzzed and Penelope flinched. She immediately berated herself mentally for doing so, but then stood and walked over monotonously.

It was a text from Josie.

**Jojo <3<3😊: ugh setting up the party is so annoying**

**Jojo <3<3😊: u sure you cant come early and keep me company?**

Penelope’s heart should be leaping at the chance to go and hang out with Josie. But now, the idea of going to a party felt sour, felt forbidden.

Why should she go, it wasn’t like she was needed? They’d forget her absence soon enough, and they’d have a wonderful time without her.

She dropped her phone back next to her, eyes unfocusing as she stared at the wall.

Why the fuck was this hitting her so hard? Wasn’t she supposed to be getting better, to be building up that emotional tolerance? How on earth was she supposed to get to a place that she could call good if she just kept doing this?

She just needed to grow up, to stop being such a child.

That’s all she was. A petty, whiny child who didn’t know how to handle her emotions properly.

Fuck, she couldn’t go to the party like this. She’d just bring everyone else down, and no one wanted that. She should just stay home.

Yes, she was going to stay home, and everything would be better.

She picked up her phone to find another text from Josie. This time it was a picture, a selfie that Josie had taken of her standing in front of a tray of cupcakes, with that adorable grin on her face.

Even as low as Penelope was feeling, the ghost of a smile still arose on her face.

Another text popped up.

**Jojo <3<3😊: these cupcakes are so good, i’m really proud of myself**

**Jojo <3<3😊: you have to try them, no excuses**

The smile faded. 

Josie was so excited for Penelope to be there, and Penelope was probably going to ruin her mood by not turning up. And then Josie would be even more disappointed in her. And then she’d get bored, and she’d leave. 

That was a stupid train of thought, she told herself. Josie wouldn’t leave you just because you missed a party.

She’d understand. She’s Josie.

That annoying part of her brain spoke up again, telling her that while Josie would understand, all Penelope would be doing, was adding to Josie’s load. Just another burden.

Just a burden, that’s all you are.

Not true.

Or was it?

Right now, Penelope wasn’t sure. 

This was stupid.

This was so stupid.

She should just get up and do her makeup.

It was at this point she realised that she hadn’t even started crying. How numb was she to this type of pain?

Maybe she was broken. 

Her phone buzzed again.

**Jojo <3<3😊: hey it says that you’ve been reading my messages, don’t tell me that you’re ghosting me**

Stupid read receipts. Why did Penelope even have them on?

She sighed. Well, now she had to respond to Josie. What would she even say? 

Sorry, I just found out my mother is even worse of a person than I thought she was and I’m having a bit of breakdown, so I won’t be at the party?

Surely Josie didn’t need that. Penelope could just lie a little.

**Penelope: hey i’m not feeling great, so I’m not gonna come**

She didn’t put her phone down, she just waited for Josie’s response. Unsurprisingly, it came very quickly.

**Jojo <3<3😊: what? i saw you today and you were fine**

**Penelope: yeah idk i think it might have been something i ate**

**Jojo <3<3😊: you had a muesli bar and some chopped carrots for lunch**

**Jojo <3<3😊: which by the way, is not enough food for lunch, but that’s not the problem here**

**Penelope: look, im just not feeling great, okay?**

She knew that she was coming off defensive, but it felt like she was balancing on a tightrope trying to hold all her emotions in. One wrong move and everything would just go spilling out.

Her phone buzzed, but not for a text. Josie was calling her.

Fuck. Josie would call her.

She let it ring through, and as she waited, ran her fingers across the crevices in her palms, trying to calm her speeding heart.

Josie texted her almost immediately after the call ended.

**Jojo <3<3😊: pen pick up the phone, im kinda getting worried**

Penelope did not pick up the phone.

**Jojo <3<3😊: Penelope, please, pick up or I’ll have to come over. Something’s not right, and I don’t want you suffering alone.**

Fuck, Penelope really liked this girl. As annoying as it was that Josie wouldn’t just leave her alone to suffer, it was nice that she cared enough to push.

She picked up the phone and hit the call button.

Josie answered almost immediately.

“Penelope? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m,” she cleared her throat, knowing that she did not sound okay, “I’m okay.”

“Penelope, I know you better than that.”

Penelope sighed, “Yeah, you do.”

“So, what happened?” Josie voice was gentle enough that Penelope felt almost like telling the truth. 

“Just the usual. Some shit happened, and I’m overreacting. I’m fine, really, I’m just not feeling very social.”

“Or are you trying to self-isolate because you feel like a burden?”

Penelope didn’t have an answer for that, so she just stayed quiet, mentally cursing Josie for knowing her so well.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. You're not a burden Penelope Park. You're an amazing girl, and anyone would be honored to be in the same room as you." Josie said it with such confidence that Penelope couldn't help but try to believe it.

"Now, do you want me to come and get you, because trust me, if we can get you in a room with everyone, we can at least get your mind off of things for a couple of hours? If you want, we can talk. If you don’t, we can just play some dumb theatre games.”

Penelope smiled despite herself. Things didn’t seem as helpless when she was talking to Josie, even if her mouth still tasted sour.

“No, it’s fine, Maya’s giving me a ride.” 

“Okay. Well, I’ll be here when you get here, so come say hi. If you want, I can hug you?”

Penelope laughed, “That sounds nice.”

“Do you feel a bit less like shit?”

“A little. You’re right though, I just need to get my mind off of it.”

“I’ll be your side the whole way. Also, Lizzie has scheming face, just so you’re prepared.”

“Oh boy.” Lizzie having scheming face meant that this party was definitely going to be eventful. Hopefully it wasn’t too much, because while Penelope felt like a bit of a distraction was needed, she didn’t need more stuff to deal with.

“Alright, well, I need to do my makeup before Maya gets here. Thanks for calling.”

“Of course, I wanted to make sure that you were okay. And when I knew you weren’t, I had to do my best to help.”

“Thanks Jojo. See you later.”

“See you later.”

Penelope checked the time on her phone once Josie hung up. She had about ten minutes before Maya got there. Shit. Well, she’d have to speed run doing her makeup a little. Thankfully, she didn’t have anything too special planned. Just some eyeliner and a touch of red eyeshadow.

She put on some loud music to help hype her up, and went into the bathroom to get ready.

+++

Penelope exited her house, to find Maya leaning against her car, waiting for Penelope.

“I was starting to think you were ditching.”

Penelope laughed, “Nah, I just lost track of time and had to finish my makeup as quickly as possible.”

Maya nodded and rose an eyebrow, “Okay, I don’t want to be a dick, but Josie texted me like twenty minutes ago, asking if I had heard from you. Apparently, you weren’t answering your phone or something. Then she texted me again saying that all was good. Is all good?”

Penelope should have known that Josie would have done that. She did tend to panic text people. The only reason that she probably hadn’t gotten a text from Hope was because she was with Josie and Lizzie right now, helping set up. She’d definitely gotten distracted.

“Yeah, I sort of had a bit of a moment, and I may have called my mum.” She didn’t really know why she was telling the truth, but it did feel good to say.

Maya didn’t know the whole story, but she knew enough to be concerned.

“Your mum? What did that bitch do this time?”

Penelope shook her head and opened the passenger door, sliding into her seat. Maya walked around and slid in next to her.

“You gonna ignore the question?”

Penelope sighed, “It’s just stupid.”

“Yeah sure. I won’t push, but I can tell you it definitely isn’t stupid.”

Penelope nodded, thinking back to the numbness, how she’d been genuinely considering that maybe she was broken or something for not being able to cry.

“My mother is basically pretending I don’t exist. I’m not even exaggerating, that’s literally what’s happening.”

Maya let out a low whistle, “That’s fucked up dude.”

Penelope nodded, “Yeah.”

“Well, if it makes you feel better, I think she’s missing out. You’re a great person, who wouldn’t want you as a kid?”

“You’re saying you want me as a kid?”

“You’re missing the—”

“Are you saying that Lizzie wants me as a child? Oh my god, are you saying that Josie wants me as her child? Am I going to get child zoned?”

Maya rolled her eyes, “I genuinely don’t know how Hope and Josie and all them put up with your shit for so long.”

“Trust me, they did not.”

Maya stared at her, “Do you want to talk about this, or is this your way of changing the subject?”

“No, this is my way of lightening the subject with humour. It’s the only way I can talk about shit without spiralling.”

Maya nodded with understanding in her eyes, “Right, that checks out. Okay, so?”

Penelope tried her best to be serious, “I know my mother is just a bitch, and she doesn’t deserve me, but it still hurts.”

“Yeah, it would. Now, I think that the two of us should go to this party, maybe drink a bit, and have fun with our friends. Nice costume by the way,” Maya added with a wink. Penelope rolled her eyes. Maya was a very flirty person, she had noticed. They were quite similar in that regard.

She looked at Maya’s costume, which was just a black crop top that exposed a lot of skin, black leggings, and a pair of ears on her head.

“What are you supposed to be?”

“A werewolf, duh.”

“Right.”

“You don’t sound convinced.”

“I promise you; I am extremely convinced. Now let’s get going, I need to get to this party.”

“No, you just want to see your girl.”

“She’s not my girl.”

“Not yet.”

+++

From the outside, the house looked like your average house on Halloween. Someone had put cobwebs over the mailbox, and there were plastic skeletons standing by the garage, almost like they were guarding it.

As they walked up to the door, Penelope looked out for the witch that Josie always insisted on putting by the doorway. It was one of those with a motion sensor that would cackle and jump up when you passed it. Josie thought it was hilarious. Landon had nearly pissed himself the first time he’d passed it. 

Sure enough, as they got to the final bush before the doorway, a cackle sounded and a little witch popped up, eyes blaring red. 

Maya actually jumped, tripping over her feet and Penelope reached out to hold her steady.

“You alright?”

Maya pushed her hair out of her face, “What the hell is that?”

“It’s Auntie Dahlia. Hope named it after her crazy aunt who tried to kidnap Freya.”

Maya laughed, but Penelope just waited. Maya’s eyes nearly jumped out of her face.

“Wait really?”

“Yeah, the Mikaelson family is kinda fucked up.”

“I’ll say. Who put that witch there though?”

Penelope smiled, “Josie. She thinks it’s iconic.” The amount of times that she had heard Josie arguing that it was tradition to put Auntie Dahlia out was more than you’d think.

“Penelope?”

Penelope turned to see that Josie had opened the door, and was standing there, eyes flicking between her and Maya. She realised in that moment that her hands were still holding Maya up. Quickly, she pulled them back and turned to face Josie.

“I was explaining Auntie Dahlia to Maya here. She got scared.”

“Fuck you, I was startled, not scared.”

“Same thing.”

Maya gave her a little shove and stepped forwards.

“Hey Josie.” She looked expectantly at Josie, but Josie did not move from the doorway.

Maya cleared her throat, “If you don’t mind, I’d like to go find my brother, so I can embarrass him properly?”

Josie seemed to jump out of a trance. Immediately, she nodded and stepped aside. Maya nodded in return and headed in, leaving Penelope standing with Josie.

Penelope smiled, “Hey Jojo. I like your costume.” 

Josie looked down, as if she had forgotten what she was wearing. Like Penelope, she had definitely gone for the ‘hot’ option, which was definitely going to be an adequate distraction. If Penelope had to guess, she’d say that Josie was dressed as a sexy evil witch.

She had a short plaid skirt, one that came nowhere near her knees, and a white blouse, with the top three buttons undone, which gave Penelope a very nice view of a lot of pale skin. Once upon a time, she would have definitely made it her mission to cover that skin in as many hickeys as possible. Now, she would just imagine that possibility. To top it all off, she had a black ribbon around the collar, and some light dark makeup.

If Josie was a witch, and she went evil, Penelope would definitely be too busy thirsting over her to stop her.

“Penelope? Did you hear what I said?”

Penelope blinked. She had absolutely not heard what Josie said, as she’d been very busy staring. The little feminist voice in her brain reminded her that objectifying women was bad. She decided to maybe listen to that voice this once.

“Uh, could you repeat that? I may have gotten…distracted.” She let her eyes flick down to Josie very nice long legs to emphasise the point.

Josie blushed, “I was asking if you were okay. Or like, if you wanted to talk about earlier?”

Penelope sighed, taking a step closer to Josie.

“I called my mum.”

Josie didn’t even bother hiding her shock.

“Really?”

“Yep.”

“Why?”

Penelope shrugged, “I don’t know. I just had a moment, where I needed to call her. I don’t even know what my plan was.”

Josie reached out and placed her hand on Penelope’s upper arm, rubbing up and down.

“What happened?”

“So, uh, funny story, her boyfriend of three months picked up, and he had no fucking clue who I was.” Penelope laughed, hoping that if she did cry, her makeup was as waterproof as the packaging had advertised. 

Josie looked at her, shock clear in her eyes. It seemed that she was at a loss for words. Penelope didn’t blame her.

“Three months?”

“Yep.”

“But she only left like a month ago?”

“Yep.”

“And he didn’t know who you were?”

“Didn’t know that I even existed.”

“That’s fucked up.”

“It really is.”

Josie moved forwards and suddenly her arms were wrapped around Penelope, who melted into the hug. As Josie was the taller out of the two of them, Penelope could easily rest her head on Josie’s shoulder when they hugged. This was a perfect opportunity for comfort.

“You’re amazing, okay? And we’re going to have a great party, and you’re going to hang out with a bunch of people who love you, and who know just how amazing you are. If at the end of the night, you still feel like shit, you can stay over, it’s not like my mums can stop us.”

The thought of getting to fall asleep next to Josie sounded really nice, so Penelope nodded.

“I’d like that.”

“Good. Now, come on, you need to test my cupcakes.” She pulled back and looked at Penelope’s costume. “And by the way, if you were intending to turn me on with your costume, it’s definitely working. Capes always were your thing.”

Penelope loved when Josie flirted with her, but when she was a bit more mature with her words, it straight up stole the air from out her lungs. God, that was hot.  
Josie winked at her, and held out a hand. 

Without hesitation, Penelope took it, and let herself be led into the party. 

Tonight would be a good night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can I get a collective "Fuck Lynne"? Because damn, I know that I'm the writer but she is such a jerk.  
> As you may have gathered from whenever I end a chapter with a character thinking that things are going to go well, things are not going to go well. But don't worry, there are no troubles in the next chapter, just dumbasses at a party!  
> Until then, drink your water, enjoy your free time, and keep those vibes immaculate!


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's this? An update a day early? I think it might be!  
> Now, get ready for dumb kids at a party just vibing!  
> Enjoy!

This party was off to a good start. All the drama kids were milling around, talking, eating snacks, singing show tunes at the top of their lungs, and in a few specific cases, flirting with each other.

Case in point, Lizzie and Hope. Ever since Hope had showed up to help set up, Lizzie had been flirting extra hard. Josie knew that it was because she was planning to finally make a big move tonight, but still, they were kinda gross.

And Hope was so fucking oblivious. How this girl had made it so far without fainting when Lizzie flirted with her was a mystery indeed. 

Hope hadn’t brought anything up to Josie, but Penelope had mentioned that Hope was very confused as to why Lizzie was suddenly being flirtier. 

All this would definitely be helped if Lizzie would just come out to Hope, but for some reason, she hadn’t yet. Which was stupid, because Hope was her best friend, and was also bisexual, and also probably the person who’d be most supportive of Lizzie deciding that she liked girls.

Lizzie was just being dramatic, Josie knew it. But she was still allowed to be annoyed at that. 

But then there was Penelope.

Josie knew that Penelope hadn’t been doing amazingly recently. Their interaction earlier that week when Penelope had been convinced that Josie was disappointed in her proved as much. And she knew that Penelope’s dad was pressuring her with the whole ‘calling her mother’ thing.

So, she was kind of expecting something to happen. That was why, the moment Penelope said that she didn’t feel like coming, Josie got worried. Because that meant that it had probably happened.

Had she panic texted Maya, who she knew was giving Penelope a ride? Yeah, and that was a little bit embarrassing, but at least she hadn’t been overreacting, considering that something bad had happened.

Penelope had sounded so…broken over the phone. Like she didn’t have the strength to feel any emotions, like she was just empty.

It hurt to hear her like that.

Of course, it had to do with her mum. If Josie ever saw that woman again, she’d probably need Lizzie to hold her back.

Ever since Penelope had hung up, Josie had waited by the door to greet her. People had started turning up, and she’d smiled at all of them, but hadn’t left the entrance hall, letting Hope and Lizzie do the hard work.

Every time Auntie Dahlia went off, Josie was racing to the door, checking to see if it was Penelope. And then it finally was.

But when she opened the door, her and Maya were about an inch apart, and Penelope was holding onto her with a soft smile on her lips, the one that Josie liked to think was reserved for her.

So, maybe she’d been a little harsh to Maya. But that didn’t matter. What mattered was Penelope. 

When Josie had got past comforting her and doing her best to make sure that Penelope truly knew how much she was valued, she took in Penelope’s costume.

Obviously, she looked hot. The cape, matched with a short skirt, black lace choker, and a black shirt, literally half unbuttoned so that Josie could see so much cleavage? It was a surprise that Josie hadn’t spontaneously combusted on the spot.

She was very proud of herself for flirting though. Often Penelope was the one to catch her completely off guard, and Josie never usually had a comeback. This time, Penelope had looked quite flustered, which Josie called a win in her book every day.

Right now, Penelope was talking with Kaleb and MG, and as far as Josie could tell, her smile was at least 70% real. 

Josie had promised to stay with her throughout the night, but Penelope had whispered to her about three minutes ago that she wanted a drink, and Josie had gone to get her one. She didn’t want to be like some sort of baby sitter for Penelope, she was a grown, well, almost grown woman, and she could handle herself. Josie just wanted to be with Penelope, and make her happy for as long as she could.

So, she could get her a drink.

She made her way across the room, and handed Penelope her drink. For all that Penelope disliked about Lizzie, she did like her homemade lemonade that Lizzie refused to reveal the recipe for. Not even to Josie. 

Penelope looked down at the drink in her hand, and then back up at Josie with a smile.

“Thanks, Jojo.” She opened her mouth again, as if to say something else, but Josie heard the tell-tale sound of the witch going off in the background, and she turned.

“Let me guess, someone else is at the door?”

Josie gave Penelope an apologetic nod, “You want to come with?”

Penelope laughed, “As much as I like spending time with you, I think I’ll pass on this one.”

Josie nodded, “I’ll be right back.” She turned and headed off to the door. When she opened it, she found that it was Jade on the other side.

For just a moment, she let herself take in Jade’s costume. She had come dressed as a vampire, with fake fangs and blood and everything. The rest of her outfit was fairly normal; a black leather jacket, and ripped black jeans. She still pulled it off rather well.

Josie nodded and gave Jade a smile, “Hey.”

Jade nodded back, “You gonna invite me in?”

Josie stared at her, a little confused. Jade grinned.

“You know, because I’m a vampire.”

Josie laughed when she realised the joke. 

“Right, of course. Well, even though I’ve technically invited you in before, I’ll do it again. You are welcome.” She stepped aside, giving Jade a teasing grin. After some time apart, she’d come to realise that she had liked Jade, just, more as a friend.

Did that make her a friendzoning asshole? Maybe. But maybe Josie and Jade would just have to deal with that.

As Josie turned to leave, Jade made a noise that suggested that she had something that she wanted to say. Josie turned back to look at her.

"Hey, um, this might be weird, but I just wanted to ask if we're cool? Like, I know you and Penelope have a thing, and she kinda wants me dead, and I just wanted to know if you hate me or anything." Jade looked so tiny and nervous, and Josie almost wanted to hug her.

She didn't though, because that would be weird.

She settled for just nodding.

"Yeah Jade, we're cool. Penelope might not like you but well, I dated you for a reason, and even if that ended in a mess, I still think you're okay."

"Just okay?"

Josie gave her a pointed look, "You kinda invaded my privacy by stealing my phone and then you lied about it."

Jade winced and nodded, "Fair enough. I'll put that on my 'What not to do in a relationship' list." 

Josie actually laughed, "Probably for the best. The next one might not be as forgiving as me, and you might end up losing an arm," she said, deadpan.

Jade nodded, trying to keep a serious face, but she broke very quickly. Josie followed not long after, and then they were just laughing.

When they fell back into silence, Josie looked at Jade.

“So, was that all?”

Jade nodded, fiddling with the zipper of her jacket.

“Yeah, that’s it. I’ll let you get back to the party. I’m gonna go find Wendy.” 

Josie and Jade headed back into the room. Josie immediately found Penelope’s eyes. Penelope was watching the two of them with just a touch of suspicion in her gaze. When she met Josie’s eyes, it faded, and she smiled.

Josie headed over to her.

“Hey, sorry I got caught up.”

“All good, what were you two talking about?” Penelope took a sip of her lemonade, and Josie could practically feel her trying not to be jealous. Josie laid a hand on her arm, just above her elbow.

“She just wanted to know if I hated her."

Penelope chuckled “How did that go?”

Josie had to admit, as awkward and just straight up weird as that conversation had been, it hadn’t exactly been bad. 

“Actually, not too bad. I don't think she hates me for breaking up with her."

Penelope smiled, “As I’m sure I’ve told you before, I don’t think anyone can hate you.” Her eyes turned thoughtful, and she looked off into the crowd, but she didn’t speak. Josie nudged her.

“What?”

Penelope looked back at Josie, “This isn’t me being jealous, but you two are friends now?"

Josie shrugged, “Yeah, I think so."

Penelope nodded but didn’t say anything more. As much as Josie loved Penelope, it could sometimes be frustrating when she asked strange questions and then didn’t elaborate. So, Josie nudged her again.

“Come on, just say it.”

Penelope shrugged, “I’m trying not to be jealous, so I’m letting myself adjust to you and Jade being friends. Don’t worry, I won’t steal your phone.” She gave Josie a grin, but quickly retracted it when Josie just gave her a look.

“Was that too soon?”

“Just a bit. Maybe leave the jokes if you’re going to be not jealous.”

Penelope nodded, “Yes ma’am.” The teasing grin returned when Josie blushed. “Oh, you like that?”

“Shut up Penelope.”

“You totally like that, I’m remembering that.”

“And I’m going to go find Hope. She’ll probably need to talk to someone about Lizzie flirting with her.”

Penelope laughed, “Is she still under the impression that Lizzie is straight?”

“It would seem that way.”

“I love her but she’s an idiot.”

“Yep.” Josie patted Penelope’s arm, and headed off into the crowd.

She found Hope in the kitchen, which wasn’t exactly surprising. Hope did enjoy staying near the snacks at any party. Currently, she was eating M&Ms out of her hand; meticulously focusing on the blue ones, and then the orange ones, until she had only the red left.

Josie was so intrigued by Hope’s unique way of eating M&Ms that she forgot to announce her presence, which lead to Hope almost choking when she looked up and saw Josie barely a metre away from her.

“Jesus Josie, you scared me.”

“I gathered.”

“I could have died.”

“You’d be fine.”

“No, I’d be dead.”

“Then you’d have a nice funeral. And then I’d have a nice funeral because your family would kill me.”

Hope nodded seriously, “And then Penelope and Lizzie would have nice funerals.”

“Why’s that?”

“Lizzie would kill herself because of twin bond laws, and Penelope would kill herself because she’d be bored without me.”

Josie rolled her eyes, “What about me, wouldn’t she be sad about me?”

“Well, yeah, but I’m her favourite.” Hope immediately broke into a smile. “Nope, I can’t even say it with a straight face. She’d definitely pull a Romeo and stab herself.”

“Well good to know that your death would be the catalyst for a mass suicide and a murder.”

“On the plus side we’d have a great story to tell in the afterlife.”

Josie nodded, “Of course.”

They stared at each other for a few seconds, before both breaking down into laughter. Josie had missed Hope recently. Lizzie had the tendency to monopolise her time, and while Josie had Penelope, and MG, and Rafael to keep her company, Hope was important too. 

She looked back up at Hope, who was grinning, and Josie noticed that her hand was stained from the M&Ms. She pointed out as much. 

Hope’s immediate reaction was to try and lick her hand to get it off. Josie rolled her eyes. She would do that.

Hope wiped her hand on her jeans, and Josie took the time to take in Hope’s costume again. Hope had been very indecisive about what she should go as, so she’d gone as a witch, with a cloak, a werewolf, with pointy ears on her head, and a vampire, with fake teeth and blood. 

She did pull it off rather well. Josie noticed the buttons on her shirt that were done, and remembered Lizzie pulling her away, saying that Hope needed just a bit of a makeover. When they’d returned, Hope was blushing and showing at least 20% more skin.

Her sister really needed to ask out Hope, because she was not picking up any hints. 

Hope looked up, “How’s Penelope?”

Josie sighed and leant against the counter, “I think she’s better now. She had a thing with her mum and it really rattled her. I’m gonna try and convince her to stay over tonight.”

“For her or for you?” Hope gave her a teasing grin.

Josie looked down, smiling just a little, “A little bit of both.”

Hope laughed, “Not surprising.”

Josie shook her head, deciding that now was the time to switch the topic.

“So, have you done any song writing recently?”

Hope shrugged, “Haven’t had time. What about you? Any new love song to share?”

Josie laughed, “No, I just can’t find the words. Plus, I don’t know if I feel like writing a love song right now.”

Hope nodded, “Okay, then don’t. Write something else, something for you.”

Josie knew that Hope was right. All the words that had been spinning in her mind, begging to be written into a song, were about herself. It felt like there was so much going on, and as strange as this whole thing with Penelope was, the real focus was on how she’d been changing recently.

She’d stepped into the light with this musical, just like she’d always wanted. 

So, what was missing? 

“You look like you’re thinking about something.”

Josie sighed, “Just how I feel like my life could be considered pretty good right now, but I still feel like something isn’t quite right.”

Hope shrugged, “Maybe you don’t need to look for it. Maybe it’s the looking that makes you feel like something is missing. If you keep searching for a reason why everything isn’t perfect, you’ll find it.”

“But what if there is something?”

“You’ll deal with it. I know you Josie. You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for.”

Josie nodded, deciding to leave that conversation for the moment. It was a bit too heavy for a Halloween party.

“So, how are you and Lizzie going?” Josie tried to sound innocent, but Hope immediately hushed her and looked around furtively.

“She’s not going to jump out of a cupboard Hope.”

“Your sister has crazy good hearing. It scares me sometimes.”

“What scares you?”

Josie nearly jumped as high as the counter. Lizzie had apparently developed teleporting skills, and had chosen to appear right behind Josie.

“Sometimes a bell would be nice,” Josie mumbled. Lizzie swatted her shoulder.

“Yeah, because my presence is a momentous event that should be praised.” Lizzie came to stand even with Josie, and openly let her gaze rake over Hope’s costume, spending just a touch too much time around her cleavage.

“Have I told you how hot you look tonight? Because you are so fucking hot.”

Josie had half a mind talk walk away before Lizzie started defiling Hope right there on the counter.

Hope’s mouth dropped open, and she attempted something along the lines of a sentence, but it did not pan out properly, and she just ended up humming awkwardly.

Lizzie laughed, in that way that made it so fucking obvious that she was trying to flirt. 

“What’s wrong? Cat got your tongue?”

Josie looked between the two of them and made the executive decision that she did not need to be there for Lizzie trying to show just how must she was ready to make out with Hope.

That was her sister, and one of her best friends. Yeah, no, she was gonna go find somewhere else to be.

Josie slipped away from the conversation, and Lizzie didn’t even acknowledge it, which Josie was thankful for. She didn’t need to have to come up with a fake excuse. She was terrible at that.

Hope did catch her eye, and send her a look of helplessness, but Josie just gave her an awkward thumbs up and moved on. She saw Ethan and Landon standing to the side of the room and decided that she could hang out with those boys for the next ten or so minutes. 

+++

Josie ended up spending the next half hour with Landon and Ethan, talking and laughing about the dumbest things. She’d never really interacted with Ethan before, but he seemed like a really good guy. He was passionate about theatre, and dance, and playing the piano, and he was hopelessly in love with Landon.

It was adorable watching the two of them, the little inside jokes they had, the glances they’d send each other that Josie didn’t understand, but they clearly did. She wondered if that was how her and Penelope looked to outsiders.

Speaking of Penelope, she was currently playing Uno with Kaleb, Rafael, and MG, and from the sound of it, she was winning. Josie was pretty sure she’d heard Kaleb yelling about her cheating, but Josie knew from personal experience that Penelope was just scary good at Uno.

Seriously, it was practically a game of chance, and she just somehow knew exactly what to do. Plus, her game talk was terrifying. Josie was pretty sure that she remembered Penelope telling Hope that she’d slaughter her whole family if she put down a plus 4 card. 

Josie excused herself from the conversation with the boys to head to the bathroom. She did need to go, but she also just needed a quiet moment. Lizzie’s carefully curated playlist was blaring from as many speakers as they could gather, and everyone was engaged in very loud conversation, and Josie just needed a break.

She looked at herself in the mirror, and took a deep breath. Lizzie had assured her earlier that she looked amazing, and Josie had to agree. No wonder Penelope had been struck silent when she saw Josie. 

Josie toyed with the next button in line, wondering if she should unbutton it. No, it was fine, she didn’t need to do that. 

Once upon a time, her buttons would have ended up all undone because Penelope had a habit of playing with them. And when Penelope got drunk or high, she didn’t really care too much about judgement for PDA. So, that meant that they basically start making out in the middle of a party.

Maybe it was for the best that they weren’t together right now. She didn’t need the whole cast judging her for being horny for Penelope Park.

But seriously, how could they blame her? She was wearing a cape and flawless eyeliner. How could you not be attracted?

Josie left the bathroom, and immediately bumped into someone. She looked up, mumbling an apology, and found herself face to face with Maya.

Oh. The girl she’d gotten stupidly jealous over earlier, despite the fact that she had no right. 

“Hey Maya,” Josie greeted, painfully aware of how forced her voice sounded. 

Maya nodded, looking rather awkward. 

“Hey, sorry Josie, I didn’t see you there.”

“No, it’s cool, this hallway is really dark.” That was true. Lizzie had insisted that this hallway only be lit by the orange fairy lights they had gotten from the dollar store for three bucks. They were terrible lights, but according to Lizzie they fit the vibe, so they’d put them up.

Maya nodded, reaching out to touch one of the lights absently.

“Yeah, it is a little.” She laughed, and then her expression changed to one that looked sort of worried. Josie waited, because it was clear that Maya had something to say.

“Are you pissed at me? Because I’m getting the vibe that you’re pissed at me.”

Josie was shocked, even though she probably shouldn’t be. She had glared at Maya, and maybe she hadn’t been the nicest at times. It was subtle, and never anything worth mentioning.

As far as Penelope was concerned, Josie wasn’t jealous. She didn’t get jealous, because jealousy was a stupid emotion, and Josie hated seeing it in others, so she could absolutely not be a hypocrite.

She remembered that she still had to answer the question.

“What? No, I’m not pissed at you, we’re all good.” Wow, did that sound unconvincing. Josie should really try to pull on her acting skills just a little more.

Maya rose an eyebrow, “Okay, you’re being weird. Did I do something? I’m trying to be better, so if there’s a problem, please tell me, I want to fix it.”

Josie shook her head, laughing self-deprecatingly.

“You’re not the problem. I’m just kind of an idiot.”

“Okay?”

Josie looked down, trying how to phrase this so she didn’t come off as a jerk. 

“I’m just kind of…look, you don’t need to change anything, that’s all you really need to know. Just keep doing what you’ve been doing, don’t worry about it.”

“Josie, I hope you know that I’m really confused right now.”

Josie laughed nervously, “Sorry.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to tell me what’s wrong?”

Josie took a moment to quietly appraise how much Maya had changed in a month. At the beginning of this year, she never would have in a million years asked if Josie wanted to talk about her problems. Or if she had, she’d probably just try to use it as blackmail material.

“No, it’s all good. I’m sorry for making you feel uncomfortable.” Josie tried to walk away, but Maya reached out and caught her wrist.

Penelope did that a lot. And whenever she did it, Josie would feel like Penelope had grabbed onto her heart as well, like that simple contact put Josie in a trance that made her unable to look away, made it hard to breathe for a moment. 

This did not feel like that at all. She immediately snatched her hand away. Huh. She’d never really focused on how Penelope’s touch felt so completely different to everyone else. 

“Okay, you can tell me if I’m out of line here, but just so you know, pretty much all Penelope does with me, is talk about you. She has so many feelings for you, I’m surprised they don’t burst out of her chest.”

Josie blushed.

“I don’t know you; I don’t know if you’re a jealous person, but if that was in any way bothering you, don’t worry. She will only want you.”

Josie made eye contact, and noticed something else in Maya’s eye. Not quite sadness, not jealousy either. It was more like envy. Like she saw the way that Penelope and Josie looked at each other, and wondered what it was like to be cared about like that.

Josie wondered if others saw them like that. 

Wow, this had been a bit of an introspective evening. All this wondering about how others perceived her. Anymore of this and she’d either have an epiphany or an existential crisis.

“Thanks Maya,” she said quietly, and Maya gave her a nod, looking like she knew exactly what Josie had been insecure about. 

Josie didn’t want Maya to change her friendship with Penelope, because Penelope needed friends who would be there for her. Plus, they seemed to make each other happier at times. Josie was just apparently a little bit too insecure.

She headed out of the corridor, and scanned the party for friendly faces. When she couldn’t find anyone that she really wanted to hang out with, she went looking for Penelope.

Of course, she went looking for Penelope.

Penelope was still playing Uno with the boys. They were sitting cross legged in the middle of Josie’s laundry, with their cups sitting next to them, all looking extremely invested in the game. 

Rafael pulled a card out of his hand, and dropped it onto the pile. It was a skip card, and MG rolled his eyes.

“Come on man, you can’t keep skipping me.”

“You made me pick up 8 cards last game, this is payback.”

“Rude.”

Kaleb placed his card down, and Josie saw that it was a blue 8. Penelope, who was sitting with her back to Josie, had a hand full of blue cards. Josie heard her chuckle, and play her own blue 8.

Kaleb rolled his eyes, “Why am I not surprised?”

“No one asked for your reaction.”

“You get mean when you play Uno.”

“You just noticed this?”

Rafael chuckled and looked up from his cards. 

“Hey Josie.”

Kaleb flicked her a peace sign, and MG gave her a little wave. Penelope folded her cards and stood to face Josie.

“Hey Jojo.” She wrapped her arms around Josie’s waist and buried her head into Josie’s neck. Josie was unsure why she was being so touchy, but she wasn’t about to complain, so she wrapped her own arms around Penelope.

“Hey Pen. I take it you’re crushing the boys?”

Rafael laughed, “Crushing is a nice word.”

“I still think she’s cheating,” Kaleb added. Penelope moved one hand away from Josie’s waist to flip him off. 

Rafael shrugged and played his next card. Josie chose to focus on Penelope, who had just pulled back to look up at her, instead. 

“Someone’s being cuddly right now,” Josie commented.

“Bad thing?”

“Definitely not.”

Penelope beamed up at her, “It’s tiring being a Uno champion.”

“Oh I’m sure it is. I wouldn’t know though. You always beat me in Uno.”

“You have a terrible poker face. It’s not my fault.”

“Pen, it’s Uno. You’re not meant to have a poker face.”

“I take my Uno seriously.”

“I know. You didn’t talk to Hope for a week after she beat you.”

Penelope’s face immediately dropped into a pout.

“She cheated.”

“We are not having this debate again.”

Penelope opened her mouth to reply, but Kaleb called out.

“Hey lover girl, you gonna come play with us, or are you just going to keep being gross?”

Penelope looked at Josie with an apology on her lips, but determination in her eyes.

Josie smiled, “It’s okay, go play Uno. Do you mind if I watch?”

Penelope grinned, “Of course. Who wouldn’t want to watch as I smash these clowns?”

“Hey that’s mean.”

“No, it’s just incorrect. Clowns are scary, MG is not scary,” Kaleb corrected. 

“Kaleb, that’s also mean.”

“All’s fair in love and war.”

“Do you even know what that means?” Penelope asked, stepping away from Josie.

Kaleb shrugged and took a sip of his drink.

“I know it makes me sound cool.”

Penelope dropped back down and fanned out her four cards again.

“It makes you sound like a dumbass.”

Josie dropped down next to Penelope and rested her head on her shoulder. Penelope grinned and gave her a better look at her cards.

“What do you think?”

“I think you’re going to win.”

“If you’re going to win, please hurry up and play your next card.”

Penelope rolled her eyes and turned back to the game. Kaleb had played a plus 2. Penelope looked at him with what Josie could only imagine was unfathomable rage.

“How dare you Kaleb Hawkins, I will end your bloodline.”

“Hey, don’t threaten my sister.”

“Okay fine. I’ll just crush your dick.”

“Remind me to keep you away from my penis.”

+++

The game, of course, resulted in a win from Penelope. It also resulted in Kaleb throwing his cards at her, mostly due to the fact that after playing a reverse card, she had not hesitated to target him.

She had told him that it was payback but that had just resulted in her getting the discard pile thrown at her as well. 

They’d cleaned it up, thankfully, because Josie was not about to clean that up tomorrow morning, and had then decided that Uno maybe wasn’t the call right at this moment. 

So, they’d headed into the main room and they’d stayed there for the next half hour.

In that time, Josie had gotten dragged into a game of Never Have I Ever, which resulted in her having to basically down a cup of alcohol that had somehow ended up there. She had a sneaking suspicion that Lizzie and Hope had stolen it from the Mikaelson stash.

Her and Penelope had ended up dancing in the middle of the room, singing along to the song playing at the top of their lungs. Josie’s voice was going to be ruined for tomorrow’s rehearsals, but she was pretty sure that Hope was going to try and convince Kol to give them a break from rehearsals.

When the song ended, Josie had looked down into Penelope’s eyes, feeling completely out of breath, and suddenly they were way too close.

She knew that now was not the time or place, but she really wanted to kiss Penelope.

Like, so much.

Just as she was considering maybe voicing this thought, someone’s voice broke through the party.

“Alright fuckers, let’s have a game of Truth or Dare,” Lizzie yelled.

Oh.

This was going to go terribly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact about me: I love putting Truth or Dare in my fics. I think it just adds a little bit of spice!  
> Next chapter, well, um, I'm gonna apologise in advance, and that's all you're getting in terms of hints.  
> Now, I was speedy with this update, and I hope that I can be speedy with the next one, but I have no idea! So, uh, just expect that there will be a chapter some time next week!  
> Until then, take the time to find the good parts in every day!


	34. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, um, I'm just gonna tell you that you're in for a rollercoaster of emotions.  
> Enjoy...

Penelope knew that Lizzie probably meant well. She probably thought that all the drama kids sitting in a circle, with most of them intoxicated, playing Truth or Dare, was just harmless fun.

Or maybe she just wanted to add a bit of spice to the night. 

Whatever the case, she knew that Lizzie wasn’t trying to be difficult. But right now, the last place Penelope wanted to be, was sitting in a circle where she’d either be forced to reveal secrets, or to do dumb shit.

She could already tell that this was going to get eventful.

Penelope hadn’t had too much to drink. Really, she’d only had about half a cup, because she always tried to be careful about that sort of thing. Especially when she was sad. That was how her dad had tried to deal with his problems, and it had very much not worked.

Penelope wasn’t going to be him.

So, she stayed away from the alcohol.

Josie on the other hand, was definitely more than a little intoxicated. The way she swayed on her feet, and smiled at everything told Penelope that. Plus, she was way touchier, if such a thing was even possible.

Penelope didn’t really mind, because physical comfort from Josie right now was really good.

And maybe she wouldn’t have minded if Josie had actually followed the impulse that had been written all over her face, and had just leant down and kissed Penelope.

Even if now was probably the worst time for them to be bringing the relationship back. Because while Penelope was ignoring the whole mother situation, that definitely didn’t count as dealing with it.

She just needed a little more time, just a little bit more time for her to get stronger, for her to break down the walls in her mind, and they’d be fine.

So, Truth or Dare? Probably a bad idea. 

Still, she let Josie pull her by the hand into the living room, where most of the drama kids were assembling. Penelope looked around, trying to figure out who was about to be a problem.

Hope and Lizzie were separate, for some reason, but they kept glancing each other’s way. Penelope knew that they were both a little tipsy, so it would be interesting to see if they embarrassed themselves. At least she knew them both well enough to know that they wouldn’t ask any stupid questions.

Landon and Ethan were lost in each other’s arms and eyes, grinning and whispering. Landon had gotten so sappy ever since he’d started dating Ethan. It felt like he was a lot more comfortable being himself, which was nice to see. Neither of them would give her problems tonight, they’d be too busy loving each other.

Kaleb and MG, well, she wasn’t quite sure about what they were laughing about, but they looked both rather drunk. MG was too goofy and adorable for Penelope to really consider him a problem. Kaleb, well, he might be embarrassing, so maybe Penelope should watch him.

Maya sat down with Kym and Alyssa. Penelope narrowed her eyes. Maya and her were friends now, there was no chance of her doing something malicious, and Kym was just a dorky history nerd. Alyssa, on the other hand, was manipulative and very good at causing drama. Penelope definitely needed to keep an eye out there.

Jade and Wendy sat the furthest away from Penelope and Josie. Penelope didn’t immediately glare when she saw them, and she counted that as a win. She really was getting better with the jealousy. At least she had that going for her. Hopefully, neither of them pulled any dumb shit. 

Rafael slid in next to her and gave her a friendly nod. Penelope had never had any real reason to dislike him, unless you were counting that period where he had a crush on Josie, and she got horribly jealous. Past that, he’d seemed alright. He’d been a good enough brother to Landon. Surely, he wouldn’t be a problem.

Penelope was fairly confident that no one in this room openly hated her, so she relaxed a little. Maybe this wouldn’t be as much of a shit show as she thought it would. 

Lizzie cleared her throat and stood up. She swayed a little, and smiled at all of them brightly.

“Welcome fellow drama kids! The name of the game is Truth or Dare, and so as to not have any targeting occurring, we shall be using this bottle,” she lifted an empty Coke bottle into the air like a trophy, “to decide who is getting challenged. Once you have either answered the truth or done the dare, you will spin the bottle, and pick the next target. If you want to decline your Truth or Dare, you must take a sip from your drink.”

Cheers rose up from the room, although most were lazy, mostly just out of need for there to be a response. Lizzie looked happy however, and she placed the bottle on the ground, giving it a spin.

It whirled around crazily, and Penelope had the feeling that maybe they should have chosen a better bottle for this. 

The lid pointed to MG, who grinned.

“Alright Lizzie, what do you want?”

“Truth or Dare Milton.”

“Dare. I’m a big boy, I do dares.” To prove his point, he tried to flex his muscles. When he realised that he did not have enough muscle to effectively flex, he pouted.

“Calm down Macho Man. I dare you…to do a one-man dance of Getcha Head In the Game.”

It wasn’t the most scandalous dare Penelope had ever heard at one of these games, which was honestly good because she had heard some intense dares, but it was at least entertaining.

MG, to his credit, did the best he could. For someone who could barely stand up straight, he sure could dance. And it got a lot of laughs when he started singing along under his breath, bouncing an imaginary basketball.

Josie was one of the ones who laughed, and she practically collapsed into Penelope’s arms as she lost it. Penelope just smiled and took the opportunity to pull her closer. Josie did not complain, in fact, she smiled and let herself be pulled in.

MG stumbled back to his seat and spun the bottle. It landed on Landon, who gave MG a nervous grin.

“I’m gonna go truth. I don’t feel like standing up.”

MG stroked his chin, as if he was trying to show everyone that he was thinking. 

“When did you first catch feelings for Ethan?”

Ethan looked at Landon curiously, and Landon blushed. Penelope, who knew exactly when, started grinning.

“Uh, well…it was the first day.”

“Oh my god, really?” Ethan asked, beaming. Landon nodded, looking away. Ethan picked up his hand and kissed it.

“That’s so cute,” he told Landon, who looked back up, smiling a little more confidently.

“Ugh, you two are gross. Stop flirting, and move on with the game,” Alyssa complained. Kym nudged her.

“They’re allowed to be cute; they’re dating.”

“Whatever.”

After a little bit more of blushing and smiling, Landon spun the bottle. It landed on Josie, who giggled.

“Landon! I pick Truth.”

Oh boy.

“Um, okay, let me think.” Penelope tried her best to mentally convince Landon not to ask anything that Josie would be super embarrassed about tomorrow.

He seemed to settle on a question, and he sat up straighter.

“Josie, what Disney movie makes you cry the most?”

Thank you, Landon, for asking a question that Penelope already knew the answer to, and also asking something that was just kinda cute.

Josie blushed, “I cry the most at Inside Out. Bing Bong dying should be considered one of the saddest moments ever put to film.”

Penelope had watched Inside Out with Josie many times, and Josie always cried at the same two parts. When Bing Bong died, and when Riley came home to her parents. Josie said that Bing Bong dying was sad because it represented the loss of your childhood, and that Riley coming home was sad because she talked about trying to be happy, but not feeling happy anymore.

Josie always needed hugs during and after watching that movie. Maybe Penelope should suggest that they watch it, just as a ploy to cuddle Josie. Or was that mean?

She’d been so lost thinking about Josie, that she’d missed the spinning of the bottle. She came back to reality, to find that it was pointing at Hope, who was staring Josie down.

Josie looked far too excited about this event, and Penelope wondered if she had a plan.

“Truth or Dare Hope.”

Hope looked warily at Josie, as if she was trying to figure out what evil she was mulling over. 

“Dare.” A risky move, especially with the way that Josie’s grin only seemed to grow. Hope seemed to sense that she’d possibly picked the wrong option and grimaced.

“I dare you to kiss the most attractive person in the room.” 

A collective ‘ooh’ went up from everyone, as they looked at Hope, trying to figure out who it would be that she was going to pick. Penelope noted how Josie said person, leaving it open for Hope to decide if she was going to out herself or not.

Hope’s eyes darted to Lizzie, just for a fraction of a second, and then she drained the rest of her drink. A few people booed lazily, but most just rolled their eyes. Lizzie, for one, looked slightly confused, and kept trying to make eye contact with Hope, who was looking directly at her now empty cup. 

Penelope made a mental note to convince Hope to finally own up to her feelings. This was starting to get annoying.

These dumb pining idiots.

+++

The next few rounds passed without much incidence. Rafael had to do twenty pushups, MG had to prank call his mother (which was definitely going to result in a grounding, that woman was harsh), and Penelope had to dramatically recite a Troy monologue to Lizzie.

In all, it was entertaining, but not altogether world changing. Penelope was starting to just kick back and enjoy herself. 

Then Kaleb landed on Lizzie, who leant forwards with a grin.

“I pick Dare.”

He held her gaze, “I dare you to kiss the last person in the room who you had feelings for.”

Oh shit. 

This time, the room was silent as they watched the stare off between the two.

Kaleb, of course, knew about the Hope-Lizzie thing. He didn’t know that Lizzie was bi, but they all kinda had suspicions. 

Lizzie held his gaze, and Penelope wondered if she was simply going to pull a Hope, and just take a sip from her drink, but then she nodded.

“Alright Kaleb, you have a deal.”

This was the moment of truth. Lizzie had an easy opt out here, she could just kiss her ex-boyfriend, Rafael, and they could all move on with their lives, or, she could kiss Hope, and this night would get just a bit more interesting.

When Lizzie didn’t walk straight over to Rafael, Penelope knew it was the latter. She heard Josie audibly gasp.

Hope, of course, looked extremely confused. Just as she was about to open her mouth, probably to ask a dumb question like ‘but Sebastian isn’t here’, Lizzie dropped down in front of her.

Penelope couldn’t see Hope’s face, as it was now blocked from view, but she gathered that it was probably full of shock.

She waited, and Lizzie leant down, kissing Hope on the cheek, lingering for a moment, and then getting up and walking back to her spot like nothing had happened. Well, her cheeks were slightly red, but she wore it well.

“You didn’t kiss her properly,” Kaleb pointed out.

Lizzie shrugged, picking up the bottle, “You didn’t specify, and I didn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable.” Her eyes flicked back to Hope, who seemed to be trying to match her face colour with her hair colour, and then she spun the bottle.

It landed on Alyssa, who so far, had not been challenged. 

“Alyssa Truth or Dare?”

“Truth, I’m not in the mood to kiss anyone right now,” Alyssa snarked.

“Fine. Who is the last person you slept with?”

“Gross, but okay. Jed.”

Penelope didn’t know it was possible to fall over when you were already sitting down. 

“Jed? Like my Jed?” Penelope knew she sounded way too shocked by that news, but like, Jed? 

Alyssa rolled her eyes, “Yeah, him.”

Penelope was definitely going to be interrogating him about that. Alyssa shrugged, and spun the bottle.

It whirled haphazardly around the circle, and then, as if pointed there by otherworldly intervention, probably from Satan, it pointed right at Penelope.

Ah.

Fuck.

Alyssa leant forwards, eyes lighting up with a dangerous predator that had just sighted its prey. Penelope did not like feeling like prey. Prey didn’t have control. She needed control.

“Truth or Dare?” Alyssa’s face was calm, only her eyes displayed her interest.

Penelope knew the risks here. If she chose dare, there was no saying what Alyssa would make her do. If she said truth, well, there was a lot of truth that she didn’t feeling like exposing right now. 

Well, if it was anything too bad, surely, she could just take a sip of her drink. She was still fairly sober; it would be fine.

She sighed, and with as much confidence as she could muster, said, “I’ll take dare.” She hoped that she did not regret that. 

However, much like Hope had regretted picking dare when she saw Josie’s face, Penelope regretted it when she saw Alyssa’s face.

“I dare you to kiss the last person who you kissed. And don’t pull that Lizzie bullshit. Kiss them on the lips.”

Jesus, she should have just said Josie’s name, but she supposed it was Alyssa. She needed to be dramatic.

Now, another choice to make. 

To kiss Josie, which she’d been wanting for so fucking long, or to take a sip. 

If Alyssa hadn’t added in the other clause, she’d have just leant over and kissed Josie on the cheek. Josie would have blushed, but it would have been fine, and they could just move on. 

Goddammit, Penelope should just take a sip.

Just take a sip, just move on.

Stop thinking about how soft Josie’s lips are.

Stop thinking about how her eyes darkened when you were dancing earlier.

Stop thinking about how the girl you had wanted for years, was right there next to you, and you had the perfect excuse to kiss her.

This was dumb.

This was so dumb.

Penelope turned to look at Josie. There was no point in hiding it, everyone knew that Penelope and Josie had kissed. Maybe they’d be doing a mental timeline in their head, and trying to figure out if Penelope had kissed any of the summer flings, but Penelope didn’t care.

She just looked at Josie, trying to ask with her eyes what she should do.

Because she really wanted to kiss Josie. 

But Josie was sort of drunk, and Penelope wasn’t all too certain about what the consent was here.

Plus, Josie might not want to kiss her right now, in front of all these people.

Their eyes met, and Penelope was almost shocked by the amount of longing, of wanting, waiting for her in Josie’s eyes.

If she’d ever doubted the conviction of Josie’s feelings before, she could rescind that, because Josie was looking at her like Penelope was a fucking angel or something.

Well, more like a fallen angel, because there were only thoughts of sin in her eyes.

And god, Penelope was okay with being a demon if it meant she got to kiss Josie again.

So, she did what her heart was screaming for, and leant forwards.

She expected the kiss to be soft, to be gentle. The moment their lips met, it was like a dam was breaking, and suddenly Penelope couldn’t get enough.

She was not sober enough for this. Or maybe Josie was just a drug. Everything was hazy, and the only thing in the world was Josie’s lips. They were so soft, had they always been this soft? Why was this a perfect moment, and also not enough?

She needed more, wanted more.

But they were sitting on Josie’s living room floor, both of them slightly drunk on alcohol and each other’s lips, and everyone in the cast was watching them. They needed to stop.  
Just one more moment.

And then Josie pulled back.

It always seemed to be Josie to pull back. Probably because she was usually the more sensible of the two. The one less likely to lose her mind just because she was kissing someone. 

Penelope would have to ask one day, if Josie was driven just as crazy when they kissed as Penelope was. Considering that Josie was the one who’d actually said the words ‘I love you’, she probably felt the same.

Penelope looked back out to the group, who seemed to have been averting their eyes out of modesty. Jade had mysteriously disappeared, and Penelope felt that was fair. No one wanted to see their ex making out with someone else.

Alyssa nodded, “Well, good to see you didn’t chicken out. Penelope, your turn.”

Right, Penelope needed to spin the bottle. She twirled it around, trying to give it as much force as possible. It ended up pointing at Kym. Penelope didn’t really know enough about her to be immediately sure what she wanted to ask, so she just waited.

Kym shrugged, “I’m bold, I’ll go dare.”

Why was it that dares were so hard to think of? Or was it just that Josie was still touching her, just lightly? Was her mind still muddled by the contact she’d been craving for so long?

“Uh, I dare you to do a handstand for ten seconds.”

A few people chuckled, probably because it was a pretty weak dare, but seriously, Josie was resting against her, and Penelope could still taste the kiss. 

Kym completed the dare with ease, and Penelope allowed herself a moment to relax and to really fully process the fact that she’d just kissed Josie again.

The last time she’d done that, she’d basically been on the verge of a mental breakdown over her mother.

Jesus, could she kiss Josie one time when she was happy, and not sad because her mum had pulled some shit? Because while the comfort was lovely, she didn’t need anymore hurt in her life.

She watched Kym spin the bottle, only half paying attention, because Josie had just chosen to lean towards her ear and whisper.

“Hey.”

Penelope turned and grinned nervously.

“Hey.”

Josie smiled shyly, “Can we talk about that later?”

Penelope nodded, and turned back to the game, smiling at the thought that they weren’t just going to forget the kiss. 

Maybe tonight could truly be salvaged.

Then Kym spoke.

“Maya, I dare you to kiss the person in this room you think is the most attractive.”

There really were a lot of dares about kissing, weren’t there? Penelope would have commented, but the words died in her throat when Maya stood up and walked over to her.

“Don’t overthink it,” Maya muttered, and then suddenly, she kissed her.

What.

Kissing Maya wasn’t like kissing Josie.

For one, she didn’t taste the same. 

Josie had tasted a lot like the alcohol, but there’d always been this flavour that was unique to Josie. Penelope had never been able to put a name to it, but it was good.

Maya just tasted unfamiliar, wrong, like she’d ordered one meal, and gotten something completely different.

Penelope leant into the kiss subconsciously, like she was searching for whatever it was in Josie’s lips that made her heart go crazy.

Was it rude to be thinking about someone else while kissing someone?

Probably, but Maya knew that Penelope was obsessed with Josie.

Maya didn’t have feelings for her, right?

Maya told her not to overthink it.

So, Penelope wouldn’t overthink it. 

And, if need be, she could clarify later.

The kiss didn’t last as long as the one with Josie, and when Maya pulled away, she just gave Penelope a smirk and then walked back to her seat.

Penelope turned to look at Josie, to make a joke about how irresistible she was.

But Josie wasn’t there.

Oh.

That wasn’t good.

Maya was already spinning the bottle for the next round, but Penelope decided that she didn’t need to be there.

She needed to find Josie.

Because something was very very wrong.

+++

Josie was sitting out in the backyard when Penelope found her. She’d left the sliding door open, but Penelope closed it behind her when she stepped out. Something told her that this conversation was best had behind a closed door.

Josie didn’t move.

She just kept staring out into the night. 

Penelope sat down next to her, realising that it was quite cold out there. Her fingers found their way to her shirt buttons, and she did them up, fingers somehow managing to mess the simple task up a few times.

Josie stayed silent.

She didn’t pay any attention to Penelope.

This was really bad.

And the problem was, Penelope didn’t even really know why.

Maya and Josie were on good terms now. They’d talk, and they’d laugh at each other’s jokes. Maya apologised, and Josie had literally told Penelope that they were cool.

So, why was Maya kissing Penelope such an issue?

Wait. 

Was Josie…jealous?

No, that was ridiculous. Josie didn’t get jealous. Penelope got jealous. She got jealous and stupid and possessive, and Josie hated it. She’d told Penelope so.

If Josie was jealous, well, Penelope didn’t know how to deal with that. Penelope had forced herself to get over her jealousy, to be a better person, and she’d talked about it with Josie. She’d been open about it, because she’d wanted Josie to know. 

Josie would have told her, right?

“Josie,” Penelope started, not quite sure where to go next.

“You kissed her back,” Josie said quietly, and Penelope could hear how much emotion she was holding back. She just didn’t understand. 

“For like a second.” Why was this such a big deal?

Josie shook her head, “You’re such an idiot sometimes.” Her words slurred, and Penelope remembered that Josie was probably rather drunk right now.

Oh, shit this was gonna be bad. When Josie was upset and drunk, things got ugly quick.

“Josie, it didn’t mean anything,” Penelope tried again, but Josie looked at her. Her eyes were red, and her makeup was messed up. 

“You don’t get it! It meant something to her! It meant something to me!”

“It didn’t mean anything to her.”

“You don’t know that.”

“It meant nothing to me. That’s all that matters, right?”

Josie shook her head, “No, that’s not all.” 

Penelope frowned, “What do you mean ‘it meant something to you’?”

Josie looked down at her feet. Penelope pressed again.

“Josie. If there’s a problem, tell me now.”

“You’re so close with her. You got so close with her so quick. And it’s like she understands in this way that I don’t. It feels like you’re getting comfortable with not loving me.” She looked back at Penelope, a fire in her eyes. 

“Tell me now, do you actually want to get back together?”

Penelope couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Josie was actually jealous, and what’s more, she thought that Penelope didn’t want her anymore. How could she be so blind?

“Are you kidding me? Josie, all I’ve ever wanted is you.”

“Then tell me you love me.”

“I—” Penelope’s throat closed up, and she had to look away, shame rising to her cheeks. Just say the fucking words Penelope. Just say the fucking words.

“I…Josie, you know that—”

“Knowing and hearing it are two different things.”

“Are you seriously mad at me?”

“I don’t know. I think so.” Josie sounded somehow unsure and angry at the same time. Penelope couldn’t hear this right now. 

She stood up, “I’m not doing this right now.”

Josie stood up with her, looking at her, “So, the moment I’m a problem, you run? Again? I thought you’d decided to stop doing that.”

Penelope ran a hand through her hair, “Josie, I’m not running. You’re drunk, and you’re gonna say something that you regret. I’m leaving this situation because I know I’m not gonna win this fight.”

“It wouldn’t be a fight if you weren’t so resigned to just being broken.”

There was a silence. Penelope couldn’t process the words at first. 

Josie wouldn’t call her broken. 

Josie was the one who told her that she was strong, she was the one who had convinced Penelope that she was worth the effort.

Her mother had called her broken once. It had been an offhand comment, when Penelope was barely ten years old.

_I’m tired of dealing with a broken husband and a broken child._

She’d overheard it from when her mother was yelling at her dad downstairs. At the time, the words had echoed around her head, like they were trapped in there. 

It was happening again.

“I thought I wasn’t broken,” Penelope said quietly. Josie’s eyes softened, and she reached out, but Penelope stepped back.

“You know Josie, I am fighting so hard to be better. All for you. Because I want to be good enough, for you. And yes, it’s for me too, and I know we promised not to wait for each other, but you’re the one who convinced me that I was good.” She shook her head and took another step away.

Josie’s mouth fell open, and she started to babble.

“Penelope…you know I—I would never say that…I didn’t mean it like—I didn’t want to say—Penelope please.” The words sounded clumsy, like a child was throwing them out. Josie probably didn’t know what she was saying right now.

All she probably knew was that Penelope was mad, and she didn’t like it.

“I know, I know you didn’t mean it, and you’re drunk, and you’re not thinking right but seriously Jo, what the fuck is this about? I’m sorry that me getting better isn’t as quick as you’d like. And I’m sorry that you didn’t think to just fucking tell me that you were jealous. Seriously Jo, I told you about Jade, and I apologised, and I handled it like a fucking adult. How long have you been hiding this from me?”

Josie shrugged, and didn’t say anything more. Her eyes seemed to have focused on something fascinating on the ground. Penelope scoffed.

“Right, so a while. Cool. I’m really feeling the trust right now.” 

“I didn’t want you to be mad at me.” Josie sounded like a petulant child now. 

“Well, I’m mad now, so congrats, you completely messed that one up.” She took a deep breath, trying to focus. She shouldn’t be taking all this out on Josie, not right now. But the hurt, the betrayed feeling in her chest; it was all too much.

Penelope just wanted to go home and sleep.

Where even was home though? Because her house just felt empty, like a default position she returned to because it was stable. Or, as stable as it could be.

Josie was her true home, she knew that. But right now, she didn’t feel like it.

“Will you stay?” Josie looked at her with such hope in her eyes, and Penelope felt bad for how she was about to crush it.

“You know I can’t. Not right now.” There was a pause, and then, out from Penelope’s walls, darted just a touch of vulnerability.

“Josie, I’m mad right now, because that hurt. It really hurts. When you’ve sobered up, we’ll talk, and we’ll figure it out. I think I just need some time.” Her voice broke over a sob, and she wiped away the accompanying tear. 

And then, she opened the door, and walked back into the house, leaving the girl she cared for so deeply alone, out in the cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look. It couldn't be perfect the whole way. There had to be some conflict. They will fix it. I promise. Please don't kill me.  
> Aside from that, Penelope and Josie kissed again! That's good, you guys wanted that! And, Hizzie's getting closer and closer!  
> Speaking of Hizzie, the next chapter will be from Lizzie's perspective, and we're getting Hizzie content! So, be excited about that, I know there are some Hizzie's who read this!  
> Alright, I'm gonna head out. For this week, my motivational message to you all is to remember that there will be good times, and they are coming your way!


	35. Chapter 35

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I know this is a day late, but I had two assignments due this week, plus I was just kind of emotionally drained which made writing hard. But, I got it done, which I'm pretty proud of!   
> To the Hizzie's who still read this fic, this chapter is for you!  
> Enjoy!

Lizzie didn’t know how to describe the party. She’d thought that it would just simply be a fun time, where she could flirt with Hope, and laugh with the drama kids about stupid things.

Apparently not.

She was fine, obviously. After coming to terms with her big fat crush on Hope Mikaelson, and the apparent not-straightness of her sexuality, she was feeling more confident in herself than ever.

It was just everyone else who seemed to be struggling.

Josie was very good at pretending that she was fine. In fact, she’d almost made it into an art at this point. Only a select few could see through it, and Lizzie knew she was one of them.

So, she could say that, without a single doubt, Josie was not fine.

Something was wrong, and Lizzie had a sneaking suspicion that it had to do with Penelope Park.

Penelope and Lizzie had a rather interesting relationship. Like, yes, Lizzie would punch her in the face for nothing else but a peanut, but she would also trust Penelope with at least 85% of her secrets.

So, she couldn’t say that she hated her, and it was an unspoken rule in Lizzie’s mind that she couldn’t call Penelope a friend, even if they were, so, Penelope was just a very interesting acquaintance.

One that needed to woman up, and get to making Josie happy.

Even if Lizzie understood that it was easier said than done. 

Penelope and Josie had both been off tonight. To be fair, she hadn’t seen much of either, but it looked to her like both of them were forcing their smiles. The only difference was that Josie didn’t realise that she was faking it. 

But Lizzie did.

So what, she had asked herself. Josie didn’t have to be perfect all the time. She was allowed to have off days. It wasn’t Lizzie’s problem right now. If Josie needed help, Lizzie would know. And right then, she wasn’t that bad.

Convinced that the party was going to be fine, Lizzie had just moved on to flirting with Hope.

Flirting with Hope was incredibly fun. This was mostly due to the fact that Hope didn’t know how to react. To be fair, Lizzie hadn’t come out to her yet, for reasons that Lizzie herself wasn’t quite sure of.

Maybe she just enjoyed this in between period a little bit too much, and she was still uncertain about actually committing to her feelings. 

But no more. Once the party was over, Lizzie had promised herself that she was going to tell Hope everything.

A game of Truth or Dare seemed like a great idea at the time. Just another way for dumb teens to blow off some steam. 

When Hope got dared to kiss the most attractive person in the room, Lizzie was interested. She knew, of course, that Hope thought she was the most attractive. Or, she’d better think that, because Lizzie was not about to come second to anyone else in that category. She looked like a damn goddess; Hope should appreciate it.

She didn’t get to find out what Hope really thought, of course, because Hope had opted to drink. Which meant that Hope was embarrassed about it. Or, maybe, she just didn’t want to make Lizzie uncomfortable.

That was kind of sweet. Lizzie liked to pretend that she wasn’t a sappy person, but really, she was. So, it was nice to think that Hope was trying to make her feel comfortable.

When Lizzie got dared, on the other hand, she knew that she had to do it. If she opted out, people would roll their eyes, because well, it was her idea after all. 

Now, the way it had been phrased was that she needed to kiss the last person she had feelings for. Which was definitely Hope. But, as much as Lizzie wanted to make it known to everyone, even if they’d forget it in their drunkenness, that she had feelings for Hope, she also didn’t want Hope to be uncomfortable.

And she was absolutely not going to let them have their first kiss during a game of Truth or Dare in front of a bunch of drama kids. No, she wanted at least a little bit of dignity and clarity.

So, she kissed Hope on the cheek and decided to not look at Hope for the rest of the game. While she may look unaffected, she was kind of losing it on the inside. Mostly, she was proud of herself for actually doing it.

Penelope getting dared to kiss Josie? Well, Lizzie knew it was coming, and she was not at all surprised that they actually did it. They’d been pining for each other for so long, if they could get a chance for a tiny bit of release, well, of course they were going to take it.

Seriously, yeah, they needed to do the healing and they had this whole complex about needing to be good enough, but could they hurry it up? Even Lizzie was feeling the strain.  
It would have been fine.

The night could have ended calmly.

But Kym dared Maya to kiss the most attractive person in the room. 

Now, Lizzie had always been just a little bit suspicious of Maya. She was awfully close to Penelope, and she knew that Josie was jealous, so she had to be protective.

And she knew immediately who Maya was going to go to. 

By the look in her eyes, so did Josie.

When Maya kissed Penelope, Lizzie watched as Josie’s expression turned to one full of pain. And then, well, it was hard to say what it was exactly, but Lizzie thought it was the look of someone who had been hoping they’d be the winner, only to be passed just at the finish line.

In a much less dramatic sense, her sister was insecure as fuck about the fact that Maya and Penelope were kissing.

Josie left soon after that.

Penelope was so dazed when Maya pulled away that it took her a few moments to react, but like clockwork, she followed Josie out.

Everyone noticed, because it wasn’t exactly subtle, and the game kinda died after that. Then, people started saying they needed to leave, and the noise faded as farewells were thrown around.

There was one person that Lizzie needed to pull aside before they left. 

Maya.

So, while Ethan and Landon disappeared to say their goodbye, which probably involved making out in a corridor, Lizzie literally pulled her aside.

“Alright asshole, time to chat.”

Maya sighed, “Is this about me kissing Penelope?”

“No, it’s about me confessing my undying love for you. Yes, it’s about you kissing Penelope!”

Maya looked down, cheeks going just a shade redder.

“Look, I know Penelope and Josie are it for each other. I’m not trying to interfere with—”

“Answer my questions. First, do you have feelings for Penelope Park?”

Maya shook her head immediately, “No, I’m not an idiot. She’s a really good friend, but I don’t see her in a ‘I’d like to hold her hand and write her love songs’ type of way.”

“But you think she’s the most attractive out of all of us?”

“Yeah.”

“Really? You think she’s hotter than me? Ugh, why does everyone have such terrible taste?”

“Would you have liked me to kiss you?” 

Lizzie wrinkled her nose, “I’d rather not think about that.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” She sighed. “Look. You’re not the person I need to apologise to, I know that. But, I’m gonna give Josie some space, just so I don’t get my head ripped off. That girl can be scary. And, I’m going to apologise to Penelope too. Don’t worry Lizzie, you don’t need to scare me into doing the right thing.”

Lizzie would say that she was impressed, but she could absolutely not imagine ever saying those words to Maya.

So, she just folded her arms.

“Fine. You may leave.”

Maya gave her a sarcastic grin, “Thanks. Oh, and despite the hiccup there at the end, I really enjoyed the party. Nice decorations, and it was fun to hang out with you guys after school.” She gave Lizzie and nod, and then headed off.

Ugh, why did Maya actually have to be succeeding at being a good person? It was so much easier to hate people when they sucked.

She looked around the room, finding that it was now devoid of people. 

Except for one.

Hope.

Hope looked up at the exact moment that Lizzie’s eyes fell upon her. 

For a moment their gaze held.

Lizzie had always believed that there was something special in the way they looked at each other. Even when she had been smothered by the blanket of ignorance that was heteronormativity, she had always considered Hope to be special.

Hope and her soft blue eyes, the eyes that Lizzie could always read.

She still remembered what those eyes had looked like on the day that Lizzie broke her heart.

If there was one day that Lizzie thought she’d regret forever, it would be that day.

The day she chose to run and hide from her feelings, the day she pretended that their kiss had meant nothing, the day she chose to fight love itself.

Love.

That was what it was, Lizzie was sure.

She was sure about a lot of things, some of those things being; that Josie would one day find herself on a stage and know that she’d made it, Penelope would always love Josie, and Lizzie would never be a perfect person.

But above all of that, Lizzie was sure that she loved Hope. 

And she was sure that Hope loved her back.

Sure, she was only seventeen, maybe she didn’t know anything, but there was something in her heart that made her certain of this.

Her and Hope moved towards each other, like they were anchored, like they were always meant to keep each other stable.

Lizzie had so much she wanted to say. There was so much she needed to tell Hope.

Then she heard her sister rushing upstairs, and she knew that she needed to wait, just a moment.

She didn’t even have to say it. Hope could see it in her eyes, and she understood. 

Hope nodded, “Go. Check on Josie, I think she’ll need it.”

Lizzie nodded back, “I will.” She paused to let a little bit of vulnerability into her voice, to put just a small crack in the dam of all the emotion inside of her. 

“Stay? Please? I think we need to talk.” Lizzie didn’t like begging, but for Hope, she would do anything.

Hope nodded.

Lizzie didn’t think she’d ever seen the other girl looking so scared, yet so hopeful at the same time.

Then again, Hope was going to the girl who had broke her heart, wondering if there was a second chance available.

Lizzie would give her that chance. She couldn’t wait to let Hope know everything that she felt, because wow, there was a lot of it.

But first, Josie.

+++

When Lizzie opened Josie’s door and peaked inside, she found Josie sitting curled up on her bed, earphones in. 

Right, so her sister had gone straight to listening to sad music on her phone. If it was slowed and reverbed, or anything off of folklore, then Lizzie would need to spend just a little more time comforting her.

She slowly made her way over, and sat down on the bed. 

Josie opened one eye and sighed.

“Go away Lizzie.” Her voice sounded tired, the voice of a girl who had just lost a battle she’d fought a million times.

Lizzie shook her head, “Not until you tell me what happened.”

Josie sniffled. Her eyes were red and her makeup was completely ruined. Once they were done here, Lizzie was making her take a shower, and getting her to clean up properly.

“All you need to know is that I fucked up.” Her words were still slurred, which meant that Lizzie would also need to get her an aspirin and some water. 

“With Penelope? That girl is obsessed with you, what could you have possibly—”

“I called her broken.”

Lizzie stopped right in the middle of her sentence, unsure that Josie had just said that.

Josie? Calling someone broken? The same Josie who called Connor an asshat and slapped him when he said that Lizzie just had a broken brain? The same Josie who had held Penelope through every hard time, who had refused to give up when Penelope was having a bad day?

It didn’t make sense.

“Can you tell me what you said exactly? Because that doesn’t sound like you.”

“She told me she didn’t want to fight. I told her that it wouldn’t be a fight if she wasn’t so resigned to being broken.”

Oh.

Josie you dumb, drunk, jealous, idiot. 

Lizzie didn’t realise that she’d said it out loud until Josie gave her a wounded look.

“I’m sorry,” Josie mumbled, and Lizzie just watched as she curled into herself.

“It was really dumb of you to tell her that.”

“I know.”

“You’re like the one person who always stuck by her.”

“I know.”

“I mean, she’s got to be spiralling pretty bad right now and—”

“Lizzie, I know, okay? I fucked up really badly, and she was already going through a lot, and I’ve just gone and made it worse.” She sighed. “I think I’m going to call her.”

“You sure you don’t want to give her some space?”

Josie was silent for a moment, and Lizzie was about to consider the conversation over, but then Josie spoke.

“What if we just aren’t meant to be? What if fate is always going to get in the way?”

Lizzie didn’t even let her mind think about that too much.

“Josie, it’s been you and Penelope since you were kids. Just apologise to her the next time you see her, make sure she knows that you don’t think that about her, and you’ll be fine. And, I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but Penelope not being able to say that she loves you is a her problem, not a you problem, so just let her deal with that in her own time. She’ll get there.”

Josie nodded slowly, “Okay. I’ll do that.” She rubbed at her face. 

“Are you gonna be okay? Because I really want to get downstairs to talk to Hope.” Lizzie didn’t want to let her nerves show, but she couldn’t stop fiddling with the edge of her shirt.

Josie looked back up at her, eyes wide.

“Hope. Holy shit you kissed her,” she exclaimed, words slurring slightly less then they had been. Lizzie laughed.

“On the cheek. But I plan on doing a little bit more than that tonight.” 

“You should go outside. It’ll be more personal.” Josie was definitely being incoherent, but Lizzie thought that maybe it was the right idea. Plus, that way her sister couldn’t eavesdrop.

“Okay, I’m gonna go and let Hope know everything. Wish me luck?”

Josie laughed, “You don’t need it. She loves you back.”

+++

Funnily enough, Lizzie found Hope outside, staring out into the night sky. Usually, it was clouded over, but tonight, the starts were on display as best they could get in their town.  
Lizzie walked over and stood next to her, waiting, resting. 

She let her eyes fall from the stars onto Hope. She looked gorgeous. 

She had since taken out the fake teeth, and most of the fake blood was gone, but she still had her cloak and pointy ears on. Her eyes were still that perfect shade of blue that you got lost in, like an ocean that had sunk every ship that had sailed in it.

Seriously, it was crazy how many people had crushed on Hope. If Penelope wasn’t so obsessed with Josie, there definitely would have been something between them. 

Which Lizzie did not like thinking about, because in some weird way, Hope had always been hers. Not Penelope’s, not Josie’s, certainly not Landon’s. 

Hope had been Lizzie’s. Lizzie had been Hope’s.

Two lost girls, anchored to each other in a big world.

“You look beautiful,” Lizzie told her, mind lost in thoughts of Hope and nothing but Hope.

Hope turned to look at her, stars still dancing in her eyes.

“You do too.”

The perfect silence held, both of them knowing that whatever came next would change everything. 

Both of them were a little scared, Lizzie knew, but she also knew that what was on the other side would be so worth it.

“Lizzie, why did you kiss me?” Hope asked the question like she thought the answer would break her. 

Lizzie turned to fully face Hope, and Hope moved with her, so that they were both looking at each other.

“Well, what was the dare?” Lizzie knew she could just be outright, but who would she be if she wasn’t at least a little bit overdramatic.

“You were dared to kiss the last person you had feelings for, but that doesn’t make sense to me. You’re not even…are you?”

Lizzie looked down at her feet.

“I may, possibly have discovered that I am bisexual, and I may have neglected to tell you,” Lizzie admitted. When she looked back up, Hope looked just a touch annoyed.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You know why.”

“No, I don’t. So, can you please just stop being vague and dramatic and tell me?”

“I didn’t tell you, because I needed to make sure that I was ready and one hundred percent serious about this. And also because I enjoyed messing with you a bit too much.” She added the last part with a smile.

Hope smiled, “Well, I’m proud of you. I’m glad you could come to terms with this part of yourself, and I’m glad that you told me.” Her eyes grew cautious again. 

“So, if you’re bisexual, then…you kissed me because you actually have feelings for me?”

Lizzie nodded, “I do. I have feelings for you. Like, really strong ones that actually make it hard to talk to you, and to breathe around you.”

“How long?”

Lizzie shrugged, “I’m not really sure. I figured it out around Homecoming, but I’d kind of suspected it before then.”

Hope nodded slowly, “Did you…did you know on that day? The one where you…well, basically broke my heart?”

Lizzie didn’t really want to answer that truthfully, because she didn’t want to admit what a coward she was, but she needed to.

“I suspected then, yes, but I pushed the feelings away because I was scared. I was scared that I was going to lose you, and I didn’t want to take the leap. I didn’t want to be open.”

Hope opened her mouth, but then slowly shut it and nodded.

“I guess I understand that. Just because I was ready didn’t mean you were.”

“Are you now?”

“Am I what?”

“Are you ready now? Do you still want this, still want me?”

Hope looked at Lizzie, eyes filling with such a strange emotion that once more, Lizzie couldn’t name. She could never really put a name to the emotions in Hope’s eyes, but she always knew what they meant. 

Right now, Hope was looking at her like a child who had been asked if they still wanted an ice cream on a hot day.

“Lizzie, I don’t know if you forgot, but I pretty much put myself all out there for you. And I kissed you. And I’m pretty sure that I’m not subtle at all with the staring, and the touching, and the way I get nervous when you flirt with me, even if I like to think I am.”

“So?”

Hope laughed, “So, yes, I still want you. Actually, no, want is the wrong word. I love you Lizzie. I’ve waited for you for so long that I convinced myself that it was never going to happen, but I couldn’t stop. I tried to stop, tried to get rid of the feelings that had me, but I couldn’t because it’s you. It’s always been you.

“It was you when Landon asked me out, it was you when I was in that mess with Roman. It was you when Rafael dated you, and when MG fake proposed to you, and it was you when you and Sebastian were hooking up. It’s always been you, because you are the person who keeps me grounded. When I start feeling the pressure from my family, when things get messy, when I don’t have faith in myself, you’re always there to tell me to keep my head up, and that I’m not a quitter.

“I’ve always loved you, even if it hurt to do so, and I think I’d keep loving you, even if it meant I had to hurt. If you never wanted me, not in a million years, then I’d accept it, and I’d walk away, like I told you. But I’ve just accepted long ago that my heart is probably going to be yours, always and forever.” Hope was out of breath when she finished, but she didn’t look hesitant at all.

It felt like Lizzie’s whole world was shaking.

Always and forever.

The last time Hope had said that, they’d both tried to pass it off as platonic. This time, Hope was giving Lizzie full access to her heart, telling her that she loved her, basically telling her that if Lizzie shattered her heart again, she might just take it.

But Lizzie wasn’t going to do that.

Because Lizzie was finally ready to love the woman that was Hope Andrea Mikaelson.

She moved forwards, letting their foreheads press together. Her hand reached up to cup Hope’s jaw.

“I want to kiss you properly right now.”

Hope smiled, that one she only wore when she was looking at something that made her truly happy. Lizzie took that as confirmation, and slowly leant in.

Hope met her halfway.

Lizzie had kissed Hope before, when they were both drunk, and too far in denial for it to mean anything real.

Now, they were there, and god, Lizzie didn’t want to waste anymore time kissing people that weren’t Hope.

Because it was perfect in the most imperfect way possible.

Some people said that fireworks went off when they kissed.

Lizzie would have to disagree. 

She just felt like her whole body was exploding with electricity, like Hope was the only other thing in the world.

If Lizzie could pick top five kisses, there wouldn’t be any contest, this would go straight to the top.

They pulled back, and Lizzie couldn’t stop herself from letting the words flow out.

“I love you Hope Mikaelson. I’m so sorry it took me so long, but I love you so much. It constantly feels like I’m about to explode, like you’re just stealing the breath from my lungs. You’re the only person I ever want to look at, and I never want to think without thinking about you. I love you, and I want this chance to be with you.”

Hope laughed, “I’m glad that I have a similar effect on you.”

“You don’t even know. It’s so hard to be composed around you.”

“I’ve given up on being composed around you, it’s too hard.”

Lizzie laughed, feeling lighter than she had in years.

“Do you think they made bets on how long it would take for us to get together?” The question had just suddenly popped into Lizzie head, but it seemed valid.

Hope shrugged, “Penelope, definitely.” Her expression sobered slightly. “I should check on her. She didn’t seem in a good way when she got here, and she seemed worse when she left.”

“Josie called her broken, inadvertently of course.”

Hope sighed, “Yeah, that would do it. I’ll call her.”

Lizzie nodded, understanding that Hope needed to check on her friend. 

“You’re staying here tonight though? I need help cleaning up, and Josie’s being sad.”

Hope nodded, her smile returning.

“Of course. If it means I get to stay with you, then I’ll do any amount of cleaning.”

+++

The two of them headed inside, greeted by the sound of Josie’s keyboard from upstairs. Lizzie smiled. At least her sister was making some music; that might help.

Her and Hope didn’t talk much as they cleaned up. They just put on the party playlist and moved through, getting all the cups and chocolate wrappers cleaned off the floor.

Josie came down halfway through and started helping them. They didn’t say anything to her, they just kept cleaning in silence. She probably didn’t want to talk about it yet.

It took shorter than Lizzie thought it would, and once it was done, she felt rather satisfied. 

She looked up at Hope, who had dropped onto the couch, and Josie who was standing in the middle of the room, just staring into the distance.

“Jo? You good?”

Josie blinked and redirected her gaze. Lizzie repeated the question and Josie sighed.

“I texted Penelope an apology. I don’t know if she cares, but I needed to make sure that she knew I was sorry. It was so fucking dumb to say, and I keep thinking that I messed it up. For good this time.”

Hope was the one to react first. She stood up and walked over to Josie, taking her hands.

“Jo, Penelope might be hurt, but if you guys talk about it, and you explain why you said what you did, then I think you can get it back.”

Josie still looked doubtful, so Lizzie asked the next question.

“Do you still love her?”

Josie nodded, her lips curving into a smile.

“Yeah, I love her. I think I always will. I just don’t want her to be hurting because of me.”

“Then make it up to her.” 

Josie smiled at them.

“Thanks guys. I think I’m gonna go sleep.” She looked between the two of them, and Lizzie saw her lips curve into a teasing smile.

“And I’m glad you two finally sorted it out.”

Hope laughed, “What gave it away?”

“You aren’t acting like you need to hide your feelings anymore. It’s a nice look.” With that, she headed up the stairs.

Lizzie walked over to Hope, who was checking her phone.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m texting Penelope. Just making sure she knows that multiple people care about her wellbeing.”

Lizzie nodded, “Good idea. I might even check in.”

Hope laughed, “You two really have come a long way.”

“Yeah, I’m proud of us. All of us really. Especially you and me.”

Hope smiled, “You are awfully sappy for someone who claims to hate those gross romances.”

“I am a woman of depths.”

“I know.” Hope grinned, taking on a flirty tone. “Do I get to sleep in your bed tonight, or am I being confined to the guest room?” 

Lizzie shrugged, letting her lips form an equally flirty smile.

“I think you can sleep in my bed. Just keep your hands to yourself Mikaelson.”

“I can do that.” Hope grinned, and then leant up. Lizzie leant down and their lips met halfway.

All finally felt right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HIZZIE KISSED YAY ONE COUPLE DOWN ONE MORE TO GO!  
> Writing in Lizzie's perspective is so fun, she's both dramatic and just completely hilarious!   
> Okay, I know this is a very long fic, seriously, I get it, I'm the one writing it, but the end is getting closer! I promise everyone will get their happy endings! Next chapter, we have Penelope dealing with some of the fallout from the party. Don't worry, our girl has built up a bit more resilience after all the shit I've put her through.  
> To those who are still with me, I honestly can't thank you enough, it's still weird to think that people read the writing that I do in my spare time! I hope all of you have lovely weeks, and I'll see you next week!


	36. Chapter 36

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I don't really have an excuse for this one being late, so I'll just say sorry! Here's the chapter!  
> Enjoy!

Penelope was so fucking tired.

Probably not a good idea to have one breakdown, go to a party, have another breakdown, and then refuse to sleep for the rest of the night.

But hey, karma was a bitch.

Penelope just wasn’t sure what she’d done wrong, but it had to be something bad. Because wow, everything hurt so much right now.

Josie’s words still echoed in her head.

Well, more just one word.

Broken.

Josie had called her broken.

Penelope couldn’t stop hearing it, couldn’t stop thinking about it.

She knew that Josie hadn’t meant it, that she would no doubt apologise, and that it wasn’t too big of a deal. 

Fuck though, it still hurt. She almost didn't want to accept an apology just yet. She still needed time to think.

Eventually, she'd accept the apology, because it was Josie, and Josie would make it right, and deep down, Penelope knew that she’d just been lashing out, but right now, in this moment, everything hurt too much for Penelope to just forgive and forget.

She could wallow for a little bit more.

Her dad had been asleep by the time Penelope got home, so she was able to shower and head to bed without interrogation. 

Then, she curled up in bed and put on her extra sad playlist.

Did she have a moment where she spiralled into rather hopeless thoughts and had to silently scream into her pillow in a futile effort to make her insecurities be quiet?

Maybe.

But she’d been forced out of that when her phone started buzzing.

She picked it up to find messages from several people, and it almost made her smile to see that there were those who cared.

**Machadont: hey im really sorry if i made things uncomfortable for you earlier**

**Machdont: i shouldn’t have just sprung that on you**

**Machadont: for the record, im not in love with you or anything**

**Machadont: i just think you’re hot and that we could just like kiss as friends**

**Machadont: it sounds dumb now**

**Machadont: im really sorry tho**

**Machadont: especially if i made things with josie bad**

**Hoe: hey, are you okay?**

**Hoe: you left in a hurry and you didn’t seem good**

**Hoe: u didn’t seem good at the beginning either**

**Hoe: did something happen**

**Hoe: like, before the party**

**Hoe: penelope, i know you might need space, but i like to think of you as one of my best friends, and i am not letting u isolate yourself**

**Hoe: please don’t shut me out**

**Lizzie: i know we don’t talk, but josie told me what happened, and i just wanted to check in**

**Lizzie: i know that would have hurt, and i don’t want you doing anything you’ll regret**

**Jojo <3<3😊: Penelope, I am so sorry for what I said. I shouldn’t have said it, and i regretted it the moment it left my mouth. I don’t think you’re broken, I think you’re incredibly strong because of everything you’ve been through, and I am so sorry that I hurt you. **

**Jojo <3<3😊: I totally understand if you want some space, but I just really needed to let you know that I do not think of you like that. I was jealous and angry, and my frustration turned into something ugly. I hate that side of me, and I never want to do that again.**

**Jojo <3<3😊: and i’m really sorry for not telling you about maya. I just felt stupid and childish, and i didn’t want to make you feel like you had to change the way you acted around her, so i said nothing. **

**Jojo <3<3😊: i’ll see you at school tomorrow, if you need space, just let me know somehow, and i’ll give u all the space you need.**

**Jojo <3<3😊: good night penelope. i hope you’re okay. **

Penelope sighed, and, one by one, replied to the text messages.

**Penelope: thanx Elizabeth, but i’m big enough to take care of myself**

**Lizzie: penelope don’t**

**Penelope: don’t do what**

**Lizzie: don’t be a dick**

**Penelope: sorry, you’re out of luck, i’m always a dick**

**Lizzie: okay, you clearly don’t want to talk to me, and that’s fine**

**Lizzie: just talk to someone**

Penelope left that conversation where it was.

**Penelope: thanks for the apology maya**

**Penelope: i’m not really pissed at you, it was sort of a compliment.**

**Machadont: are you okay**

**Penelope: idk**

**Penelope: can we talk tomorrow?**

**Penelope: i feel like in person is better for some convos than text**

**Machadont: sure thing**

Penelope didn’t know which conversation worried her more; Josie or Hope. Josie she could surely just answer with a quick message, but it still hurt her to text. Hope definitely wouldn’t let it go.

So, she texted Josie first.

**Penelope: i know josie**

**Penelope: can we talk tomorrow after school?**

**Penelope: but space until then would be good**

**Jojo <3<3😊: okay**

**Jojo <3<3😊: good night **

Then, with much trepidation, she texted Hope. 

Honestly, she kinda did need to talk to someone about all of this. And Hope had always been great to rant at.

**Penelope: hey**

**Hoe: u ready to talk?**

**Hoe: lizzie says you were a bit snippy to her**

**Penelope: did she really expect anything else from me**

**Penelope: for that matter, did you?**

**Hoe: penelope, are you okay**

**Penelope: fucking peachy**

**Hoe: lizzie was right you are in a bad mood**

**Penelope: you get three guesses as to the causes**

**Hoe: causes huh**

**Hoe: josie and your mum?**

Hope knew her too fucking well.

**Penelope: ding ding ding we have a winner**

**Hoe: what happened with your mum**

**Penelope: so uh**

**Penelope: funny story**

**Penelope: she has a boyfriend of three months**

**Hoe: oh.**

**Penelope: and he didn’t know that i existed**

**Hoe: …**

**Hoe: by any chance do you know his address because i have the sudden urge to take a roadtrip**

Penelope put her phone down for a second as she laughed quietly. Hope’s fierce loyalty was truly wonderful.

**Penelope: haha thanks hope**

**Hoe: shit dude that’s fucked up**

**Penelope: i should be glad that she’s solidified the distance between us**

**Hoe: she’s still your mum**

**Penelope: she’s still my fucking mum'**

**Penelope: i fucking hate her**

**Penelope: fuck i hate her**

**Hoe: i know**

**Hoe: i hate her for everything that’s she’s put you through**

Penelope took a moment to wipe the tears that were forming in her vision. Either she was really tired, or just really overwhelmed, because she hardly ever cried.

It was probably an unhealthy mix of both.

**Penelope: i was barely making it through that party**

**Penelope: to be honest, the only reason i stayed was because josie told me that i could stay the night**

**Penelope: and i wanted her to calm me down**

**Hoe: shit**

**Hoe: i know what happened, but do you want to talk about it**

**Penelope: she called me broken hope**

**Penelope: it fucking stung**

**Hoe: i know**

**Penelope: i’ll forgive her, but fuck it hurts right now**

**Penelope: i know she only said it because she was hurt by me, and that makes it worse**

**Penelope: hope, what if im never good enough for her**

**Penelope: what if i never get better**

**Hoe: don’t say that**

**Hoe: you’ll get better**

**Hoe: and you’re already good enough**

**Penelope: i wish i could believe you**

**Hoe: one day pen, one day.**

**Penelope: okay**

**Penelope: fuck why do i hurt so much right now**

**Hoe: pen**

**Hoe: okay, you do not tell anyone i asked you this, right?**

Penelope was a little bit concerned about what Hope had to ask, but she agreed nonetheless.

**Penelope: yeah sure what is it**

**Hoe: are you sure that you want to keep pursuing this with josie**

**Hoe: because if this is just going to end up destroying both of you and your friendship in the long run, maybe now is a time to call it**

**Hoe: i just don’t want you guys hurting each other**

Penelope knew she had to think about it.

She thought about her and Josie, all that they had been through, the good, the bad, the hurt, the joy, everything. 

Everything from the moment Penelope saw her for the first time to right now, with her sitting on her bed in darkness, trying to see if it was worth it, if trying to let herself love this girl was worth it.

And really, there wasn’t a choice.

**Penelope: Hope, it’s always been Josie**

**Penelope: when im with her i feel infinite, i feel like im the best version of me**

**Penelope: we finish each other’s sentences, we push each other to be better, we make each other smile, we’re there for each other**

**Penelope: yeah, just then, that hurt, but my heart knows what it wants**

**Penelope: and when i open myself up to love, i want it to be josie that i’m loving**

**Penelope: so yeah, it’s still worth it for me**

A horrible thought occurred to her. 

**Penelope: did josie say something**

**Penelope: is this not worth it for her anymore**

**Hoe: no, don’t even worry about that**

**Hoe: she loves you, and she just wants you to be happy, no matter what that means**

**Penelope: im happy with her**

**Hoe: speaking of being happy**

**Penelope: yeah?**

**Hoe: lizzie and i may have just kissed.**

**Hoe: and she may have just told me that she loves me**

Penelope actually grinned and did a mini fist pump. Lizzie had finally done it. 

Man, it had taken her a moment, but she’d done it.

Now Penelope finally got to see her best friend happy in love.

**Penelope: omg she fucking finally told you**

**Hoe: sorry, u KNEW**

**Penelope: yeah lmao**

**Hoe: AND YOU JUST NEGLECTED TO TELL ME THAT THE GIRL IVE BEEN IN LOVE WITH FOR YEARS, LOVES ME BACK**

**Penelope: actually, it was a conscious decision**

**Penelope: lizzie asked me not to tell, and josie and i decided to let you guys figure it out on your own**

**Penelope: also, josie knew, be mad at her too**

**Hoe: josie has allegiance to lizzie, you on the other hand have allegiance to me**

**Penelope: excuse me i am an independent woman**

**Hoe: smh**

**Hoe: u kno what, im not even mad because now i know what it feel like to properly kiss lizzie forbes-laughlin**

**Hoe: and im going to get to feel what it’s like to love her**

**Penelope: dude, im really happy for you**

**Penelope: this is what you deserve**

**Hoe: thanks bro**

**Hoe: you’ll get your happy ending too**

**Penelope: …i really hope so**

**Hoe: me too**

**Hoe: just hold on**

**Penelope: i will**

**Penelope: i think i just need to sleep right now**

**Hoe: you should do that then**

**Hoe: i’ll see you tomorrow. whatever you need, i’ve got you**

**Penelope: thanx hoe**

**Hoe: night loser**

+++

School was so long and boring without Josie.

Usually, Josie was there to make dumb jokes, or to exchange eye contact with when someone did or said something funny, or to just touch.

Josie was a very touchy person, and Penelope was very touch starved. 

So, it worked out really well.

Josie would hold her hand, or run her thumb across her palm, or she’d bump their shoulders, or rest her head on Penelope’s shoulder, or even rest her head in Penelope’s lap and let Penelope play with her hair.

And it was the fucking best.

Penelope missed that, because Josie was doing all she could to give Penelope space. Her and Lizzie were even sitting away from everyone during classes and breaks. It sort of felt like the beginning of the year, but at least time she knew for sure that Josie would be coming back. 

Hope had insisted that she stay with Penelope, but Penelope still saw her texting Lizzie. She would try to get Hope to move, but Hope was stubbornly loyal.

So, she let Hope stay.

It was nice to have her by her side.

And of course, Ethan and Landon were there. Landon seemed to have picked up that something was wrong, and Penelope knew she’d be getting a talk from him later. 

Until then, she was content to just joke with him. And he seemed fine with just making her smile.

Penelope went looking for Maya once school had ended, before they had to get to rehearsals. She needed to talk to her first, just to really clear everything up.

After texting her to get a location, Penelope found Maya outside the school, sitting at a table under a tree.

“Nice spot,” Penelope commented. Maya looked up and grinned.

“I usually come out here after school. Once all the kids have left, it’s really nice out here.”

“It’s cold.”

“You’re just weak. Get a hoodie, and you’ll be fine.”

Penelope just rolled her eyes and sat next to Maya.

“Whatever. I didn’t come out here to talk about the weather.”

Maya’s expression turned from a teasing grin to something at least somewhat serious. She didn’t look too stressed, which made Penelope feel better.

“I know we addressed this in the texts, but I need to make it really clear. I’m in…Josie is it for me, okay? For now, and maybe forever, she’s the only girl I want.” Penelope was still frustrated that she couldn’t say it, but whenever she tried to, all she could think about was her mum. 

Fucking hell.

Maya shrugged, “And like I said, I know. You spend all of our conversations talking about her. If I hadn’t gotten the hint by now, I would have to be extraordinarily dumb and I’ll have you know, I’m getting really good grades.”

“Smart ass.”

“Not even an insult, try harder Park.”

Penelope shoved Maya’s shoulder but Maya just laughed. They sat in silence for a moment, before Penelope asked, with a teasing grin,

“So, you think I’m hot?”

Maya groaned, “You’re so full of yourself, I should have just kissed Hope.”

“And risk death by Lizzie? I don’t think you’re that dumb.”

“Well, now I’m at risk of death by Josie. But I suppose I have been for weeks now.” Maya must have seen Penelope’s expression drop, because she sighed.

“Sorry, if I fucked things up there, by the way. I texted her an apology but she didn’t text back, so I don’t know what that means.”

Penelope shook her head, “I’m just a bit mad that she didn’t tell me that she was jealous.”

Maya laughed, and Penelope frowned at her.

“What?”

“Penelope, yeah, duh, she’s jealous. I’ve noticed it for ages. I figured unless either you or her told me to back off I shouldn’t do anything, so I didn’t mention it. I did say something to her though, because I didn’t want her thinking I was out to steal you, but I guess it didn’t exactly work.”

Penelope just stared at her, “You knew?”

“I’m surprised you didn’t. She’s always just a bit sulky whenever we hang out by ourselves. I think one time you hugged me after a rehearsal, and she literally looked like she wanted to put shrapnel in my cereal.”

Penelope groaned, “Is it my fault?”

“What? No, dude, if she didn’t tell you, you can’t be expected to have known. But, at the same time, I get why she was jealous. She was probably a bit insecure because technically you’re not dating, and she’s the only one who’s said the L word, and she’s kinda stressed that you’re not gonna pick her. So, maybe there were fuck ups on both sides?”

Well, now Penelope felt like an idiot. Sure, Josie could have told her, but Penelope should have paid better attention, and she should have brought it up. 

Of course, Josie was insecure about their relationship. Technically, it wasn’t even a relationship.

At least she’d realised that before the talk. Even if she should have realised that on her own.

“Okay, so, I’m guessing you connected the dots then?”

Penelope nodded, “Yeah.”

“Cool. So, is there anything I should do, or like, not do?”

“Don’t kiss me again.”

“One, duh. Two, don’t act like it was the worst kiss you’ve ever had in your life.”

Penelope laughed, “Don’t worry, that honour goes to MG.”

Maya rose an eyebrow, “Why did you kiss MG? And was it really that bad, he seems sweet?”

“He’s a nice guy, and it wasn’t like he was that bad. It was more, we were thirteen, I was pissed at Josie, and it was really awkward.”

“I feel like there’s a story there.”

Penelope shrugged, “Probably. I honestly don’t remember much besides that.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Shut up.”

Maya laughed and leant back, which was a feat, considering that the bench had no back. Penelope definitely would have fucked up and leant back too far, making her fall over.

To think of it, she had definitely done that.

And Lizzie had definitely laughed at her for that.

“So, are you and Josie gonna talk?”

Penelope nodded, “Yeah, I reckon I’m gonna try and talk to her during rehearsals.”

“When the fuck are the two of you gonna get together anyways? The slowburn is killing me.”

“I don’t know. I think Josie’s waiting for me to say that I love her.” Penelope swallowed, trying to slow her racing heart down. 

What was so scary about love, she asked herself.

So many fucking things, her inner voice answered back.

“Do you?”

Penelope swallowed again, “I want to. I really want to. And I think I feel it. Actually, no, I know I feel it.”

“Does she know that?”

“Yeah.”

“So, what’s the hold up?” 

Penelope sighed, “She needs to hear me say it. If I don’t, then I might just take that as the easy way out, and choose to never open that bit up. I’ll be playing it safe, and I’ll be shut off. We both know it’d end badly.”

“And I’m guessing it’s the mummy issues stopping you?”

Penelope swatted the back of Maya’s head.

“Shut up.”

“That’s a yes.”

Penelope hit her harder. Maya batted away her hand with a wince.

“Hey, that hurt!”

“Don’t be a shit, don’t get hit.”

“That’s funny, did you just come up with that?” Maya rolled her eyes.

“It’s the patented Penelope Park genius.”

“You know, that’s the first time I’ve seen it action. Underwhelming, really.”

Penelope hit her again.

“Ow!”

+++

Unsurprisingly, Kol was late. Some would think that after nearly getting fired, he would try to be a bit more on time. None of the drama kids had been foolish enough to entertain that particular thought, so they hadn’t really expected a change.

Plus, Alyssa had let everyone know that she’d seen Kol and Davina hanging out after school once, so everyone kind of decided it was better not to bring it up.

While they waited, Penelope sat with Kaleb and Landon, letting Kaleb try his best to braid her hair.

“It’s too short, I’m telling you.”

“Shut up bird boy, no one asked you.”

“Come on, that was one time.”

“Shut up, I’m concentrating!”

Penelope rolled her eyes at the two of them, and tried her best to pretend that she wasn’t staring at Josie.

Josie was currently with MG and Rafael, the three of them laughing over something MG had done. As much as Penelope wished that she could go over there, she was still kind of too nervous to do so.

She was trying to get all her words straight so that when the time came, she would know what to say to Josie.

The words needed to be right, because Josie was important, and Penelope wasn’t about to mess this up again.

Her eyes drifted around the hall, trying to find Hope. When she couldn’t spot her, Penelope remembered that she’d been separated from her girlfriend for basically the whole day. And if Penelope remembered anything from when her and Josie were dating, they were definitely making out in a bathroom or storage cupboard.

Gross.

There was a bang, and Kol sprinted through the door, rambling apologies. No one really paid much attention, as this was fairly standard.

He hopped into the middle of the room and turned to them with a grin.

“Right, sorry guys, can you all split into pairs and do some of the warmups? I need to get my stuff set up.”

Kaleb huffed in annoyance and let Penelope’s hair go.

“This isn’t defeat. This is me choosing to walk away,” he assured Landon, who just nodded.

“Cool. I’m gonna go partner with Ethan.”

Now, Penelope usually partnered with Josie, but considering the whole ‘space’ thing, she probably shouldn’t do that.

Although, they probably would be acting opposite each other soon, and she should get rid of the awkwardness before then.

Hmm.

That was a good point.

Just as Penelope was about to swallow her fear and pride, Lizzie suddenly materialised by her side, and dragged her away.

“Uh, where the fuck did you come from?”

“None of your business Park, now you heard the man, let’s warm up.”

Penelope decided to follow Lizzie’s rather firm order, and started warming up.

She tried her best to focus on the exercises, but Lizzie kept staring at Penelope like she was planning how best to skin her alive, and well, it was distracting her a little.

Seriously, that girl could be very intimidating, not that Penelope would ever admit that to her face.

After trying her best to do her vocal warmups without feeling like her vocal cords were one misstep away from being torn out, she finally asked Lizzie about it.

“Did I do something? Or is thinking up ways to kill me just a fun hobby for you now?”

Lizzie rolled her eyes, “Calm down, I’m not gonna kill you.”

“The death ray eyes say otherwise.”

“If you don’t start taking this seriously, they will be death ray eyes,” Lizzie warned, and Penelope decided that maybe now wasn’t the time to try Lizzie.

“So, what’s it about?”

“You and Josie.”

Penelope sighed, “Look, I appreciate the concern but—”

“No buts Penelope Park, you listen to me. Hope is currently giving the same speech to Josie.” Lizzie took a deep breath, and Penelope could almost hear her inner voice telling her not to commit a murder.

“You have both come so far, and we are not letting you mess it up when you are so close. And I’m reminding you, do not hurt Josie. That is my sister, and we may be friends now, but if you hurt her, I will kill you.”

Penelope grinned, “We’re friends now?”

Lizzie groaned, “You’re focusing on the wrong thing.”

“Lizzie, I’m not going to hurt Josie. I’m actually planning to apologise, and I’m planning to do all that is humanly possible to make sure I don’t fuck this up too terribly. What is interesting is that we’re friends, and you said it out loud.”

Lizzie rolled her eyes, “Fine, we’re friends. And you’d better not fuck this up. I’m not dealing with anymore of this pining bullshit.”

“Just a little more? I’m not quite ready yet.”

Lizzie groaned, loud enough that Josie and Hope both looked over with confusion. Penelope gave them a quick grin, and they turned away.

“Fine. We can all wait a little more. But you’d better get a move on.”

“I think I’ll be ready by the time the play happens. How about this, the day after closing night, if I haven’t told her, you are legally allowed to hit me as hard as you like?” 

Why the fuck would she say that? Penelope wasn’t quite sure. Maybe all she needed was a deadline, and then she could stop being so scared.

Plus, the play was legit like two weeks away.

Woah, that was a little bit scary.

No, it was fine. She could do that.

Lizzie squinted at her, as if Penelope’s thoughts were going to be written in super small writing somewhere on her jacket.

“Alright, you have a deal. You’d better woman up.”

Penelope nodded, “I hope I do too.” She fixed Lizzie with a sly grin.

“In other news, you finally told Hope that you’re madly in love with her.”

Lizzie blushed, but she covered it up with a self-satisfied grin.

“You bet your ass I did Park. And I got an amazing girlfriend out of it. So, the moral of the story is; love confessions get you girlfriends.”

“Point well taken, thank you Lizzie.”

Kol clapped his hands, and Lizzie immediately moved away from Penelope, making a beeline towards Josie and Hope.

Penelope just stepped into what would soon be the circle of drama kids, with Landon falling next to her. 

“So, Lizzie didn’t kill you?”

“Not yet.”

He grinned, and opened his mouth to speak again, but Kol clapped his hands again, calling for silence, so the two of them ceased the conversation.

“Okay, so as we are approaching our performance time, I have a few things in mind for this rehearsal. Landon, Kaleb, and MG, I want you guys to be running the official lighting and sound cues; figure out what needs to happen where. Everyone, we’re just going to be running through some basic cues, and I want to do a run through of Wondering with you Hope.” He flicked his niece a quick finger gun, and Hope looked down at her feet.

He turned to Penelope, “Alright, now Penelope, Josie, do you think you guys can be champions and go find a space somewhere to run through the secret garden scene? The one where they talk about kindergarten?”

Oh, sure. Her and Josie could just go to a separate spot, by themselves, all alone, to rehearse a scene, all by themselves, and everything would be chill.

Penelope was overthinking this.

If anything, maybe it would break the tension.

So, she nodded at Kol, and looked across to see Josie doing the same thing.

Josie made eye contact with her, and smiled.

Penelope smiled back.

Okay, she just needed to talk to Josie.

They just needed to talk.

Strangely, unlike all the times Penelope had tried to convince herself that things would be okay, this time, she believed herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Josie and Penelope are going to talk! (I feel like I say that a lot, but this time includes a funky little flashback so that's new and exciting)! I really have no idea what to say here except that I hope you liked the different conversations Penelope had!   
> For those of you who vibe with Halloween, Happy Halloween, I hope even if you're in lockdown and the world is kind of a mess, you can still achieve the spooky vibes! Next chapter is literally just nothing but Josie and Penelope content, and like I said, a flashback! So, that's pretty exciting!  
> Until next time, whenever that may be, remember to take deep breaths, and that it's okay to focus on your own happiness!


	37. Chapter 37

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Who wants a pure Posie chapter? Because I have one right here!  
> Enjoy!

Josie didn’t know how to act around Penelope.

To be perfectly fair, she never did, but they’d just spent the whole day apart, and the last time she’d seen Penelope, she’d looked heartbroken.

So, yeah, it was a little weird.

But it was still Penelope. It was still the girl who made her feel more comfortable in her own skin than anyone else ever had.

She could handle a little weird.

She’d also been planning her apology for some time.

Basically, all of last night, and all of today.

Because she needed to give Penelope one hell of an apology. She definitely deserved it.

What was it that Josie had done, that needed apologising for, exactly?

Well, there was a lot.

First, not telling her that she was jealous about Maya.

Penelope had been good, and she’d told Josie when she was jealous, and she had dealt with it, and she’d done everything right.

Josie was actually quite proud of Penelope for that.

But Josie hadn’t done that. She’d been so focused on not messing with Penelope’s life, with not being a nuisance, the girlfriend who’s so insecure that she can’t let her partner have any friends, that she’d forgotten that Penelope wanted to know when something was up.

Was she a little bit annoyed that Penelope hadn’t noticed that something was wrong? Maybe a little, but Penelope wasn’t a mind reader. That was on Josie.

Second on the apology list, was apologising for what she had called Penelope.

That night, ever since the words had left her mouth, Josie had been regretting it.

God, she was never drinking again, because apparently it helped her to do and say really dumb things.

Penelope was already dealing with the shit from her mum, and then Josie had to go and say that? What the fuck was she even thinking? 

Josie didn’t think of Penelope as broken, she never had. Penelope was a little battered, with some sharp edges, and some scratches, but she was still whole. She was still fighting.

She was not broken.

To be honest, Josie had said it because she’d known it would hurt. 

And in her drunken state, she’d wanted Penelope to hurt. Because maybe if Penelope was hurt, she’d realise that Josie was hurt.

It was so fucking stupid. 

Josie could be tired of waiting, could be impatient, but she could not put any of that on Penelope.

Josie had said that she’d wait. 

And she was going to.

But first, she needed to make it up to Penelope. She needed to make it clear to Penelope that she was really fucking sorry, and that she did not think she was broken at all.

+++

When Kol said that he wanted Penelope and Josie to rehearse together, Josie could barely contain her joy.

This was good for two reasons.

One, Josie got to be alone with Penelope, which was always a plus, because Penelope was one of her favourite people and Josie loved spending time with her.

Two, alone, meant that there was no one there to watch, so Josie could be real. And she could apologise.

Penelope didn’t look revolted at the idea of spending time with Josie, so that was good.

She wouldn’t have forgiven her entirely yet, but she might not be as hurt as she had been last night.

Josie was definitely going to be seeing her face in that moment for the rest of eternity.

During warmups, Hope had given Josie quite a firm talking to. Which was to be expected.

Hope had been there for Penelope whenever Josie hadn’t. She had seen the hurt and the pain that Penelope tried to hide to make Josie feel less guilty.

Hope knew the extent of Penelope’s wounds.

Josie had assured her that she had an apology planned, and that she was willing to do whatever it took to make it up to Penelope. Hope seemed to accept that.

Which was good, because it gave Josie a chance to properly shovel talk Hope.

Even if her threats were pretty useless, because Hope’s family would kill her before Josie ever could if she hurt Lizzie.

Seriously, some of them liked Lizzie even more than they liked Hope.

Penelope and Josie moved together across the drama room, and neither of them could make eye contact, even when they were standing right in front of each other.

“So, uh, the music room is pretty cool right?” Why was Josie so bad at this? Couldn’t she just make a suggestion like a normal person?

Penelope nodded, “Lead the way Jojo.”

Both of them paused at the use of the nickname, and Josie could definitely see Penelope’s cheeks reddening just a little bit.

“Right. Cool. Let’s go.” Wow, so eloquent Josie. Maybe next time, add in a ‘nice’ or a ‘funky’.

They walked in silence after that, with Penelope following, about a step behind Josie. 

Josie was sort of glad for the silence. She wouldn’t have wanted to fill it with awkward small talk. 

Small talk was one of the things that Josie sucked at. It always made her feel like she was climbing a staircase to nowhere, because seriously, what on earth would come of a conversation about the weather?

Once they had reached the music room, they both pulled out their scripts and started looking through the lines Kol had assigned them.

Or in Josie’s case, pretending to look at the lines. She knew exactly what she had to say, she had all her lines down pat at this point.

And to be true, she knew that Penelope had her lines memorised by now as well. So, if Penelope was looking at the script like she had never seen it before, that meant she was pretending as well.

Which meant that maybe Penelope was just as nervous about this as Josie was.

Wait. Josie was nervous?

Oh shit, she totally was. 

What if she fucked this up? What if she said the wrong thing again, and made Penelope even more mad at her? What if in one conversation, she completely wrecked all of this, and made it so that Penelope would never open up to anyone?

Oh god this should not be so stressful.

Was Josie overthinking it?

She was totally overthinking it.

Or was she?

“Josie?”

Josie looked up from her script, to see that Penelope was frowning at her. 

Shit, had she done something wrong already?

“What?”

“I just asked if you wanted to start now.”

Josie nodded, probably a few too many times than necessary.

“Yep. Let’s go.”

Neither of them put their scripts down, which was stupid, but now Josie was committed, and she wasn’t going to back down.

Penelope cleared her throat.

Josie nodded, and swallowed, “Do you remember in kindergarten, how you’d meet a kid, and know nothing about them, then ten seconds later, play like you’re best friends because you didn’t have to be anybody but yourself?”

Penelope nodded, but didn’t say her line. Josie could tell that her mind was miles away.

“Penelope.”

Penelope blinked and made eye contact with Josie.

“Are you okay?” It was a dumb question, Penelope was pretty much never okay, but it was an okay starting point.

Penelope shrugged, “Yeah, fine. Hey, let’s just put our scripts away, alright, I know that we both have this bit memorised.”

Josie laughed, and set her script down on a nearby table.

“Okay, you want to start the scene again?”

Penelope nodded. Josie repeated her line.

“Yeah?” Penelope looked at Josie with a strange look in her eyes, like she was trying to think of something, but couldn’t. 

“Singing with you felt like that.”

Penelope opened her mouth to say her next line, and then chuckled.

Josie frowned, “What?”

Penelope looked at Josie with a grin.

“Do you remember kindergarten? When we first met?”

“You mean, when you stared at me from your table with Hope and decided you had to know me?”

Penelope blushed, “No, like when we actually met.”

Josie smiled, and nodded slowly.

It wasn’t like she could forget. 

The moment she had first met the girl she loved would forever live in her mind.

\---

_Josette was so excited for Kindergarten._

_Like, seriously, this was definitely going to be a Top Ten moment in her life._

_Preschool had been fun, but here was where she was going to start learning things, not just playing games. And, she was going to meet the kids who were going to be in her life for the rest of school._

_She already knew a few of them, because they went to the same preschool, like Alyssa, the girl who Lizzie already considered to be ‘the worst person ever’, or because they were a family friend, like Hope._

_Lizzie really liked Hope. Whenever their mums went over to the Mikaelson’s house, Lizzie always went to talk with Hope. Hope didn’t like playing dress up as much as Lizzie did, and she was way more into art, but Josie knew that Hope liked Lizzie too._

_Josette liked Hope as well, but Lizzie was very good at taking up time. And Josette’s mums always told her that Lizzie sometimes had problems with sharing, so Josie knew not to be mad about it._

_Lizzie was her twin, and even if Josette didn’t have any special friends like Lizzie did, Josette was okay with that._

_But the idea of a best friend was really cool. Someone who always wanted to play with you, someone who Josette could talk to about her favourite books, or about her rock collection._

_Lizzie didn’t like Josette’s books, and she thought rocks were boring._

_So, Josette was excited about meeting new kids here. Maybe she would meet the person who would one day be her best friend ever._

_“Josette, look, let’s go sit with Hope.” Lizzie grabbed Josette’s arm, and tugged excitedly. Josette mum had left a few minutes ago, telling them to ‘be good and behave themselves’. Josette had a feeling that those words were more for Lizzie._

_Josette followed her sister, because well, where else was she going to go?_

_When they came to Hope’s table, Josette realised that their red headed friend wasn’t alone. With her was a raven-haired girl, who was just staring at the table quietly. Josette wasn’t sure why, because Hope was colouring in, and there were enough crayons and paper for both of them, but her mums had always told her that some people just liked quiet.  
Josette could understand that. Quiet was nice._

_Lizzie had already sat down next to Hope, and was asking about her drawing. The raven-haired girl had looked up, a little surprised at the new people at the table. Josette decided that Hope was going to be distracted by Lizzie, so she sat down next to the other girl._

_She was only doing it because she didn’t want the other girl to be lonely. It wasn’t because she was interested in meeting someone new, and it definitely wasn’t because when she looked over at Josette, she had really shiny green eyes, that made Josette just want to stare forever._

_“Hi, I’m Josette,” Josette introduced herself, just like she’d been taught._

_The other girl nodded, “Hi Jos…Jos…,” she looked down at her hands, cheeks turning red._

_“What’s wrong?” Josette could tell that she was upset, and she hated it when other kids were upset._

_The other girl shook her head._

_“Is silly.”_

_“It’s making you upset, that can’t be silly.”_

_The other girl looked up, and Josette tried her best to do one of her nice smiles. It got a smile back, so Josette considered it a success._

_“I’m no good a’ pronouncing my…” she scrunched her nose up, and then took a piece of paper from the pile on the desk, and then with a very nice pen she’d pulled out of her pocket, scribbled a surprisingly neat ‘t’._

_The girl tapped it, “I’m bad a’ saying tha’ one.”_

_“Can you try?”_

_The other girl scrunched up her face._

_“Thu…plu…” she groaned. “Is impossible!”_

_Josette shrugged, “Well, I’m sure you’ll get it one day. Until then, is there something else you want to call me?”_

_The girl frowned, “Is your name, you can pick.”_

_Josette didn’t know what to say. Her mum had the same name, but everyone called her Jo. Josette didn’t want to be called Jo. She wanted to be her own person._

_“Jos…Josie.” The other girl looked up. “If you ‘ake ou’ the weird le’’er from your name, i’ sounds like Josie.”_

_Josie. That actually sounded quite nice._

_“Josie. I like that. You can call me Josie.” She frowned. “What’s your name?”_

_“Penelope Park.” Penelope looked quite pleased with the ease at which those words came._

_“Penelope is such an old person name,” Lizzie commented from across the table. Joset—no, Josie, hadn’t even noticed that she was paying attention to their conversation._

_“I like it,” Josie assured Penelope, who was looking a little bit annoyed._

_“Who are you?” She asked Lizzie, scowling a little._

_“I’m Lizzie.”_

_Penelope nodded and then turned back to Josie._

_“You’re the nicer sister.”_

_Lizzie looked rather annoyed at that, but Josie giggled. No one had told her that she was better at Lizzie than anything. Except, being quiet and sharing, but that was her mums._

_She’d never had another kid tell her that she was better._

_It felt really nice._

_“Penelope is a bit long,” Penelope mumbled under her breath, but Josie still heard it._

_“Well, do you want me to pick a nickname for you too?”_

_Penelope nodded, “Please?”_

_Josie squished her face up, trying to concentrate. Then she saw the pen in Penelope’s hands, the one that she was fidgeting with, and she knew exactly what to call her._

_“Pen! I’m gonna call you Pen.”_

_Penelope looked down at the pen in her hands and laughed._

_“It’s kinda silly,” Penelope must have seen Josie’s face drop, because she rushed onto say, “But I really like it. Please call me Pen.”_

_Josie beamed, glad that her new friend liked the name she’d picked out._

_“It’s a stupid nickname,” Lizzie commented. Hope made a shushing noise, and Penelope just stuck out her tongue, grinning too much for it to be really effective._

_She looked back at Josie, and the two girls just started laughing._

_Josie didn’t know why, but something told her that she was really going to like Penelope._

_Who knew, maybe Penelope was the one who would be her best friend one day._

_All that Josie knew was that Penelope made her smile, and Penelope made her feel warm inside._

\---

“You were so cute when you tried to pronounce your t’s,” Josie told Penelope with a laugh.

Penelope rolled her eyes, “One, it was super embarrassing, and two, aren’t you glad? Because I’m the reason that everyone calls you Josie.”

“What can I say, the name stuck?” Josie smiled at Penelope, both of their chests still aching after recounting their first meeting.

Josie still thought about how Penelope had been the first person to pick her over Lizzie. She was the first person to make Josie feel like she mattered just as much.

And it had felt really good.

It still felt really good.

“I’m sorry.” Josie didn’t mean to speak, but the words burst out of her.

Penelope blinked, “For what?”

Josie just looked at her until understanding dawned in Penelope’s eyes.

“Right, I’d actually forgotten that I was mad at you. You seem to have that effect on me.”

“Well, forgotten or not, I still need to apologise to you.”

Penelope nodded, “Yeah, and I think I still need to hear it.” 

Josie sighed and took a seat at the piano. For some reason, she felt like she couldn’t be standing for this.

Penelope didn’t move. Josie guessed that was her way of trying to physically maintain her walls.

Okay. Apology time.

“Pen, I—” her voice caught in her throat; she was unable to speak because it felt like her guilt was clogging up her whole body. She cleared her throat and looked away, hoping that Penelope wouldn’t see the shining that surely would be forming in her eyes.

“I’m so sorry Pen, I shouldn’t have hurt you like that.” She shook her head. “You’re not broken. Not to me, and not to anyone that matters. You’re strong, and resourceful, and resilient, and some days I wonder why I tried to hate you so long because it’s so clear that you’re better for me than anyone else could ever be.” 

Penelope didn’t speak. She just kept watching Josie with an unreadable expression.

Josie pressed on.

“I was frustrated, and I wasn’t thinking clearly, and I let my insecurities speak instead of my heart. I wanted to hurt you, and I did, and I’m sorry. I wish I could take it back.”

Penelope sighed, “I know. I wish you could too.”

“But I can’t. So, all I can do is tell you that I’ll make it up to you, and I will take as long as I need to show you that I don’t see you like that.”

Penelope nodded, and then in a very quiet voice said, “Okay.”

Josie managed a half smile, “Good. And I’m also sorry for not telling you about me being jealous. I just didn’t want to be a problem, and I didn’t want to interfere in your friendship.”

“Josie, you know I wouldn’t have seen it as a problem, right? I’d probably have teased you a little, but in the end, you know it’s you.”

“I know, I was just feeling insecure because it wasn’t like I had a right to be jealous.” Josie still felt kind of embarrassed about that.

Penelope, however, actually laughed.

“Hmm, now where have I heard that before. Oh, right, that’s what I said about Jade. And you told me, what were your words?” Penelope scratched her chin as if mocking deep thought, a teasing grin threatening to break onto her face.

“Oh yeah. ‘I kind of want to be your choice’. That sums it up pretty well actually.” Penelope smiled at her, an actual genuine smile, and Josie thought they might be okay.

“You still want to be my choice?” Josie didn’t know why she was asking, because, Penelope had kind of made it clear, but she still felt scared that she’d messed everything up.

Penelope nodded, “Of course. Like I said, it’s always been you. Even when it wasn’t me for you, it was you for me.”

They looked at each other in silence, and Josie thought about the period of time when she’d dated Jade. It seemed so long ago.

Penelope cleared her throat, “But, you’re not the only one in the wrong. I should have figured out that something was upsetting you. School and the play distracted me, plus my own shit, but I should’ve seen that something was wrong.”

Josie shook her head, “No, don’t apologise. It isn’t your fault.”

Penelope shook her head.

“You were only jealous because you were insecure about the fact, I haven’t made us official yet. I get that. And I’m sorry that it’s been taking me time.”

Josie was at a loss. Why was Penelope apologising, Josie had literally gotten pissed at Penelope for something that Josie had promised wasn’t an issue? 

“Penelope, don’t apologise, okay? I know it’s hard for you, you’re dealing with a lot, and you don’t want to rush this.”

Penelope nodded slowly, “You’re right though. I kind of got too comfortable with how we are right now. I stopped trying to be brave, and I shouldn’t have. You deserve better.”

Josie didn’t even know how to respond to that.

“Still, you shouldn’t have to apologise, I was the one who messed up this time.”

Penelope laughed nervously. 

“There you have it. I feel bad, because it’s usually me hurting you, and I guess I feel like I still did something wrong.” Penelope looked down, and Josie could feel the embarrassment radiating off of her.

She quickly stepped forwards and wrapped Penelope in a hug, burying her head into her neck. Penelope melted into her, and Josie heard an audible sigh of relief.

“It’s okay, it’s alright, I’ve got you,” Josie whispered into Penelope ear, and when she felt Penelope shaking with silent sobs in her arms, she tightened her grip.

She wondered just how much Penelope had needed this, and then remembered that she’d told Penelope she could stay last night, and then Penelope had left. Josie hadn’t been there last night, when Penelope had needed her, and Josie felt so shit about that.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there yesterday, but I’m here now. I’m here, and I promise I’m not going anywhere. Never again. Okay?”

Penelope sniffled, “Thanks Jojo.” They pulled away and Josie let Penelope try to subtly wipe her tears on her sleeve.

“You want to break, or do you want to dive into the lines?” Josie knew that sometimes Penelope liked having a distraction when she’d been crying, so that was why she offered the chance to do lines.

Penelope nodded and swallowed, “Yeah, let’s try lines. It might be good to get my mind off of things.” And then with a nervous smile she asked, “But can I call you tonight? Just to talk?”

Josie nodded, “Of course.”

+++

Rehearsal with Penelope went pretty smoothly after that. Penelope had always been very good at not crying, so she was able to shut off that part, and do the lines.

When Penelope’s voice wasn’t shaking with sobs anymore, completely, they did some vocal warmups, and then ran some songs. Kol may have sent them only to do one scene, but they had that pretty much down, and no one had come to get them.

Might as well make the best of the time they had, right?

Towards the end, they just sat down on the piano stool and started reminiscing.

“Do you remember the time that you and Raf kissed in Truth or Dare?”

“Ugh, don’t remind me. But, hey, didn’t you get super sulky and jealous over that?”

Penelope scoffed, “I would never.”

Josie rolled her eyes, “Just because I was the jealous one this time, doesn’t mean you’re innocent for all time.”

Penelope laughed, “But Josie, how can you accuse this face?” She gave Josie her best puppy dog eyes, which wasn’t very good. Penelope had always been better at seducing by being hot.

When Penelope realised that Josie wasn’t going to relent, she sighed dramatically and folded her arms.

“Fine. Be like that then.”

“You’re really gonna be sulky now and prove my point?”

Penelope unfolded her arms and gently shoved Josie, who just laughed.

“I don’t know why I like you, you’re so mean to me,” Penelope told her with a teasing grin. Josie found with pride that she wasn’t even worried that she was being serious.

“It’s because I’m very pretty.”

Penelope scoffed, “You being pretty doesn’t make top three.”

“You have a top three of reasons you like me?”

“Yes.”

“What is it?”

Penelope cleared her throat dramatically, and Josie turned to face her excitedly.

“Okay so. I like you because you care so much about other people, and you’re never bitchy or fake, you’re so genuine and it shows, and it draws people to you. I like you because you’re extremely talented, with your music and your acting, honestly, you’re going to do big things.”

Josie scoffed, trying to fight off both a blush and tears.

“You haven’t even left the state, how would you know that I’m talented?”

“That’s not true. My parents took me to Disneyworld as a ‘we’re a stable family’ gift, and I met a very talented Minnie Mouse,” Penelope told her with a grin.

“Ah yes, Minnie Mouse, your first crush.”

Penelope laughed. Josie frowned.

“What?”

“Josie, darling, she was not my first crush.”

“Who was?”

Penelope just looked at her very pointedly. Josie was unable to fight off the blush when she realised.

“Oh.”

Penelope smiled, “Seriously? Josie I’ve been crazy about you since I was ten. Since I met you really, but that was when I noticed you were different. That you were special.”

And Josie had the gall to think that Penelope could give up on her.

“So, what’s the third one?”

Penelope blinked, “Sorry?”

“You said top three. So far, you’ve only said the thing about me being genuine and me being talented. What’s three?”

Penelope nodded, her eyes filling with care and tenderness that made Josie’s heart ache.

“Three is the way you love me. You make me believe that I’m worth it. You make me want to be worth it. You love me so hard that it’s impossible to think otherwise. I can feel it, it’s like a warmth, and whenever I need reassurance that I’m not alone, I’ll just think about that. You’re home.”

Fuck.

Penelope Park just had to go and make her fall even deeper in love, didn’t she?

Honestly, it was getting ridiculous.

How much more in love could Josie be?

Penelope turned her head, and Josie became keenly aware of how close they were.

Just a little further, and they’d be kissing.

Josie hadn’t even had time to process their last kiss.

It had been fairly under the influence, but Josie could still remember it. Or, she could touch the edges of the memory.

The softness of Penelope’s lips on hers.

The way Penelope cradled her neck.

The feeling of release in her stomach, like all the butterflies living there were now free to roam her whole body.

If Josie just leaned in a little more, she could have that again. 

And she’d be able to remember it better.

Penelope seemed to have also clued into this, because she had become very still.

Should they kiss?

Josie couldn’t think of a reason why they shouldn’t right now.

Slowly, but surely, she started to lean forwards, her eyes fluttering closed.

Just a little further…

“Hey guys, I—woah hey.”

The two girls moved apart to look at the intruder.

Landon was standing at the door looking very awkward.

Josie was going to smack him one of these days.

Even if he had no way of knowing what he was going to walk into.

Penelope nodded, clearing her throat, “Right, cool, rehearsal’s over, I’ll see you guys.”

And then she was rushing out of the music room.

Landon looked at Josie.

“Do I need to go after her?”

Josie stood up, “Well, you just interrupted us nearly kissing, I think, so, it’s up to you.”

Landon winced, “Sorry. And on second thoughts, I’ll get Hope to go, because I don’t want to get slapped.”

“That’s probably a good idea.”

Landon nodded, and then all but sprinted out of the room, leaving Josie to try and recollect her thoughts.

Did that…just happen?

Did she nearly kiss Penelope Park twice within the space of 24 hours?

Penelope really bolted out of there, which probably meant that it was good that they hadn’t kissed. If she wasn’t ready to be there for the awkward aftermath of an almost kiss…well, Josie didn’t have a good follow up. 

Hopefully, the phone call was still on the table, because Josie was already missing Penelope.

Lizzie stuck her head into the music room.

“There you are! I was worried you’d started banging Penelope on the piano or something.”

Josie winced, “Lizzie, that’s really gross.”

Lizzie nodded, “I agree, the concept of having sex with Penelope Park is gross.”

Josie rolled her eyes and shoved Lizzie’s arm. Lizzie didn’t even pretend to have been affected by it.

“Come on loser, let’s go home. You can rant at me about Penelope all you want; I’ll just block it out with thoughts of Hope.”

“That’s so sappy.”

“You know what, yeah, it is.” Lizzie smiled proudly.

Josie just sighed and followed.

She was definitely looking forwards to that phone call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They're back to being good again! And I promise, for real this time, we aren't gonna have anymore relationship angst for Posie for the rest of the story! We're closer to the end than you guys might think!   
> To all my readers in America, are y'all good? Because as an Australian, your election is stressing me out. Hopefully, if it's stressing you out, this chapter was a good distraction!  
> Next chapter, we're going back to the Penelope POV, and she's making some significant development on some of her problems! Featuring some pretty fun convos!   
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and also, this fic is at 900 kudos! For a fandom that is dying as much as this one is, that's pretty spicy, so thank you guys! Hope you're still enjoying this fic, despite the fact that it's longer than actual published books! I hope that all of you remember to take deep breaths, and to do that funky self care!


	38. Chapter 38

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy everyone! It's that time of the week! You know the vibe!  
> Enjoy!

Penelope was going to walk home, as she usually did, but halfway through the carpark she was almost knocked over by a tiny redhead.

“Hope, what the fuck?”

Hope winced and stepped back. 

“You weren’t responding, so I tackled you.”

“I had my earplugs in, you dumbass. Besides, in what world does that plan make sense?” 

Hope just shrugged.

Penelope sighed and adjusted her bag strap.

“Sometimes I think that you would have made an excellent jock.”

Hope punched Penelope’s arm. “Want a ride home?”

Penelope rose an eyebrow. “You’re being weird. Spill, what is it?”

Hope sighed. “One, I’m genuinely trying to be nice. Two, Landon sent me after you, because apparently something went down with Josie.”

“Yeah, remind me to slap him next time I see him.”

“Absolutely not.”

Penelope scoffed. Hope just stared.

“So, ride or no?”

“Of course, I want a ride. And you’re hanging out with me. It feels like I haven’t seen you in ages.”

Hope laughed.

“That’s because you keep ditching me for Josie.”

“And you keep ditching me for Lizzie.”

Hope shrugged, “Okay fair point. Now, come on, car time.”

“Can I DJ?”

“Absolutely not.”

+++

Penelope’s dad was sitting on the couch, on his laptop, when Penelope and Hope walked through the door.

He looked up with a grin, which then morphed into an expression of pleasant surprise.

“Hope! Haven’t seen you around in a while.”

Hope nodded, returning his smile.

“I’ve been busy. Plus, you know how embarrassed Penelope gets about people being in her bedroom.”

Her father laughed, and Penelope shot the two of them a glare.

“That is not true.”

“Sorry P, it’s totally true,” Hope told her with a shit eating grin.

Her father nodded. “She is right. You don’t even let me in there most days.”

“It’s my room, what do you even want in there?”

Hope snorted. Penelope rolled her eyes, and shoved Hope towards the stairs.

“Right, that’s enough teaming up between you two. Hope, come on let’s go.”

“To the forbidden room we go.” Hope dodged Penelope’s fist and flashed another grin at her father. “It was nice seeing you again Mr Park.” Then she sprinted up the stairs.

Penelope looked at her dad, exasperated.

“Did you seriously team up with Hope against me?”

He shrugged. “It’s true. Which is why I’m just going to remind you to clean your room.”

Penelope rolled her eyes and headed up the stairs without a word.

Hope, out of what Penelope was sure was the kindness in her heart, had waited outside Penelope’s door, rather than going in.

Penelope slapped Hope’s head, and then headed in. She heard the redhead mutter something that sounded like ‘dick’, but she ignored it.

Hope laughed when Penelope flicked on the light switch.

Her room was not that messy, seriously. There were just some clothes on the floor, and her desk was covered in stuff, and there were like six cups in there, and probably a plate or two, and—

Okay. Maybe her room was a little messy. But Penelope didn’t have the time, or the energy to fix it, so it was staying like that.

“Dude, do you want to spend the rest of the afternoon cleaning this? Because I don’t think I can see the floor.”

Penelope just glared at Hope until she lifted her arms in surrender.

“Right, cool, I get the vibe. I’m just gonna sit on your bed.” 

The two of them sat down, and Penelope yanked out her speaker, immediately turning it on and linking it to her phone.

“How could I have forgotten your incessant need to listen to music at all times?” 

“Hope, if I hear one more comment from the peanut gallery, I will kick you in the boob.”

Hope twisted her body away from where Penelope’s feet were lying.

“Okay, shutting up now.”

Penelope hit play, and the opening to cardigan by Taylor Swift started playing.

Hope laughed, “I knew you were secretly a Taylor fan.”

“What can I say, Josie’s obsession kind of affected me.”

“And also, it’s good music.”

Penelope laughed, “And it’s good music.”

Hope stretched out on the bed, and suddenly Penelope remembered the major event that had recently happened in Hope’s life.

“Holy shit, Lizzie Forbes-Laughlin is your girlfriend, dude.”

Hope didn’t even try to hide her smile.

“Shut up.”

“Aww, look at you H, you’re blushing.”

Hope picked one of Penelope’s pillows off her bed, and chucked at her. Penelope just let it hit her.

“Dude, this is a good thing.”

“I know.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Hope looked up at her, “Please.”

Penelope rolled her eyes and settled down on the bed.

“Alright loser, tell me everything. I want details, unless you had sex, because I do not care.”

“And it would be weird?”

“That’s implied. Go.”

Hope had done some pretty impressive rambles about Lizzie over the years. This one however, was more excited than any other. 

Hope told her about how she’d been feeling when Lizzie had kissed her cheek. She’d had no idea how to process it, hadn’t wanted to hope that maybe, just maybe, this meant something.

That it had meant that Lizzie loved her.

When the party had fallen, Hope and Lizzie had gone outside.

Hope had been confused, but Lizzie had told her everything. 

And then, after some big lovey dovey confession, they’d kissed, properly.

That was what Penelope had picked up, anyways.

Hope didn’t stop smiling the whole time she was talking. It was nice to see her so happy, so carefree. Hope had been wanting this for so long, had been craving this love for so long.

It was finally time for her to get what she deserved.

Penelope couldn’t be prouder of her friend.

“Wait, so did you know? That she liked me?”

Penelope nearly cackled.

“Of course, I knew. You guys weren’t subtle. In fact, when the two of us negotiated our deal of like, how to not kill each other, she literally told me that I wasn’t allowed to make jokes about it. And then she kind of came out to me in the car and I told her that you weren’t going to reject her. She did take her sweet time though, but I think she was just enjoying messing with you.”

Hope blushed, “I had no clue what she was doing. She kept being so touchy, and flirty and I could not handle it.”

“I guess we know who the bottom is.”

Hope twisted so that she could kick Penelope in the side. Penelope just laughed.

“The mighty Hope Mikaelson is a flustered bi mess around Elizabeth Forbes-Laughlin. Doesn’t that sound like a headline?”

“You’re so stupid.”

“I think I’m a genius.”

“I think we should talk about your problems.”

Penelope groaned. “Why? We never do that. And it’s boring.”

Hope rolled her eyes and kicked Penelope again, but gentler this time.

“Come on dude, you gotta open up. Communication is good.”

Penelope sighed and looked up at the ceiling. It already felt so long ago that she’d been sitting on this bed, calling her mother.

It hadn’t even been a day. Maybe it said something that the sting had mostly faded.

Well, she still felt really fucking pissed, but towards her mother, that was usually pretty common.

“I’m done being hurt by her. I think I’m mad, and I think I’ll always be mad, but if she wants me out of her life, good. I want her out of mine, and I don’t care that she’s my family or whatever. I’m done getting let down by her.” 

It felt really good to say all of that out loud. Penelope actually felt lighter. 

Sure, it sucked that she was finally giving up, that there would be no more dreaming of a future where her mother decided to be better, but this was better.

Better to live in reality than to waste hope on the impossible.

“I’m proud of you. It’s time to let her go.”

Penelope sighed, “It is.”

Hope chuckled, “And just remember that my mum would give you anything, so if you ever need maternal guidance, I’m sure you can go to her.”

Penelope laughed. That was true. Hayley did love her. And that was enough for now.

“And Josie? Are you two chill now?”

Penelope groaned, thinking of their almost kiss in the music room.

“Oh, that bad?”

“No, we’re fine. We talked, she apologised, I forgave, all is good. Just…Josie and I almost kissed again.”

Hope sat up straight.

“Are you serious?”

“Yep.”

“Why didn’t you kiss?”

“Because Landon has terrible timing.”

“You’re kidding, Landon interrupted?”

Penelope laughed, nodding her head. She loved Landon, but could he have been liked five minutes later this time?

“Would you have kissed her if he hadn’t interrupted?”

“An almost kiss implies that I would have.”

Hope rolled her eyes.

“Okay, no let me rephrase. What would the kiss have meant for you two if it had happened? Because the Truth or Dare one was just a dare, and plus, the mess afterwards kinda got rid of any positive effects it could have had. But this was you two wanting to kiss. So, what would it have meant?”

Penelope sighed, forcing herself to actually think about it.

She was not ready for the relationship yet. But she really wanted to be. 

Josie had been right, she realised, in a really strange way. Yeah, she shouldn’t have called Penelope broken, and Penelope was definitely not broken, but she had gotten a bit too comfortable.

She had learnt how to be fine with just being friends with Josie, flirting with her, dreaming about her, but never getting close enough to touch. She’d convinced herself that wanting was enough, that she was just taking it slow.

The reality of it was that she was a coward, who was too scared to actually take the jump again with Josie.

That was why things had been kind of weird with them. They’d been out of sync because Penelope had stopped moving forwards. Josie was ready to try again, Josie was ready to get her heart broken, and Penelope was right back to pushing her away.

Not anymore. She’d promised Lizzie that she was going to tell Josie by the play. Well, she’d told her that if she hadn’t told her after the play, she was allowed to hit her.

So, the play. Penelope would be ready by the play.

Some tiny part of her screamed out in terror at that, screamed that she wouldn’t be ready, but Penelope ignored it.

The truth was, you were never ready for things in life, all you could do was to deal with reality.

“Pen, you good?” Hope looked at her curiously.

Penelope nodded, “I’m fine, I was just thinking about me and Josie, and I think I’ve kind of had a realisation.”

“Do tell.”

Penelope told Hope what she’d just figured out, and Hope slowly nodded when she was finished.

“That’s actually…probably accurate. Proud of you for figuring it out.”

Penelope smiled.

“So, what’s your plan?”

Penelope took a deep breath, knowing that she would need courage for what she was about to say.

“Well, I told Lizzie that I’d tell Josie before the day after closing night. So, on closing night…I’m going to tell Josie that I’m in love with her.”

Hope stared at her, then blinked a few times, opening and closing her mouth. Penelope could literally feel her hands shaking. 

“Did you just say that you were going to tell Josie that you love her?”

Penelope nodded.

“And, do you?”

Penelope grinned, “Yeah Hope, I love her.”

It felt so fucking scary to say it out loud, but at the same time, the way her heart was racing made her want to sprint through the town, screaming it to everyone she saw. 

She was in love with Josie.

Hope launched herself across the bed, wrapping her arms around Penelope in what could definitely be defined as a tackle.

“Hey, get off me!”

“Nope, this is too big of a moment. You’re getting a hug.” Hope squeezed her arms tighter around Penelope, and Penelope laughed, before squeezing back just as tight.

This was a big moment.

“I’m so fucking proud of you, okay? You’ve got this.”

Penelope laughed and nodded.

“Thanks Hope.”

Hope pulled back, bouncing in her spot.

“You sure you want to wait? Because you could tell her now.”

Penelope shook her head.

“No, I think I just need the extra time. Plus, I want it to be special. She’s the type of girl who deserves those moments, that even if we break up, she’ll always remember as special.”

Hope chuckled, “You would be the type of person to want to be so perfect that it ruins her for anyone else.”

“Not ruins her, just, keeps me in her mind. Because no matter what, she’ll always be in mine.”

Hope grinned.

“You’re such a sap, you know that Park?”

“Yeah, but get off your high horse, you’re just as bad.”

The two of them started bickering, but all that Penelope could think of was the fact that she was finally ready to take this step.

+++

She called Josie at 8pm, which gave them plenty of time to talk.

Even if Penelope wasn’t going to tell Josie that she loved her, because she didn’t know if she was ready to tell it to Josie just yet, she still had so much she wanted to talk about.

“Hey stranger,” Penelope greeted, smiling into her phone.

“Someone sounds happy. Anything special happen?”

“Can’t I just be happy to be talking to you?”

Josie laughed, and Penelope could almost see the blush that would be colouring her cheeks right now.

“Flirting, and I can hear the smile in your voice. Seriously, did something happen?”

Penelope laughed, “No, I just had a talk with Hope, and I kind of had a realisation.”

“Do tell?”

“Ah, sorry Jojo, it’s top secret.”

“Aw, come on, I’m so good at keeping secrets.”

Penelope scoffed, “What about the time in seventh grade when I told you that I kissed MG, and Lizzie and Hope knew within literal minutes?”

“In my defence, I was in great need of help in understanding why you would do that.”

“You were just jealous Josie, you know that?”

Pause.

“Maybe.”

Penelope smiled at the way she could hear Josie’s pout. 

“So, how are you doing, really?”

Penelope sighed and laid back on her bed, staring up at her ceiling. It was a pretty boring ceiling, just painted white. Maybe one day she should stick a poster up there.

Although, if it fell in the middle of the night, that would not be fun to wake up to.

“Honestly, I think I’m doing a lot better. Like, last night was bad, really bad, but I’ve talked about it, with Hope, with Maya, with Lizzie, with you, and I think I’m mostly over it.”

“Well, that’s good.”

Josie went silent for a moment, and Penelope frowned.

“What?”

“Is Maya mad at me?”

Well, that was unexpected.

“Why would she be mad at you?”

“Because I got jealous and stupid because of you kissing her, even thought I had no right to be? And because I’ve kind of not been the nicest person in the world to her sometimes.”

Maya had mentioned that Josie had been mad at her recently, but she hadn’t mentioned being upset over it. Which meant that Josie was just overthinking it and honestly, Penelope wasn’t surprised.

If there was one thing Josie was good at, besides all her artistic talents of course, it was overthinking.

“Josie, Maya isn’t mad at you. She gets why you were jealous, and she actually was good to talk to about this.”

“Why was I jealous then?” 

“Because the two of us got close fast, and because technically what we have isn’t even a relationship yet.”

Pause.

“Okay, yeah I won’t deny that,” Josie mumbled. Penelope smiled.

“Cool. And just letting you know; I’m not changing how I am around Maya unless there is something that seriously upsets you. If that happens, I need you to tell me. This doesn’t work unless we communicate, we agreed that, right?”

“Yeah. And you don’t need to change anything. I think I’m just being insecure.”

Penelope nodded, and then sat up, gathering courage for what she was going to say next.

“Josie?”

“Yeah?”

“I want to tell you something. It’s sort of a question, except you don’t have to answer it now.”

Josie was silent for a moment, and Penelope waited for her response, trying to ignore how sweaty her palms were getting.

“Okay. Ask me your question, or whatever it is.”

Penelope swallowed, “On closing night, I’m going to ask you out. If you say yes, I’ll take you on a date; there will be flowers, and nice food, and we’ll both look beautiful, and we can be happy. If you say no, well, I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

“Penelope I—”

“No, it’s okay, you don’t have to answer me now. Some things need to change first, and I promise, they will. I just wanted to let you know because I know that you like being ready for things.”

Josie was silent on the other end, and Penelope prayed, to who she wasn’t sure, that she hadn’t fucked this up.

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“You can ask me out on closing night. But Penelope, you know there’s still stuff that—”

“Yeah, I know. And I’m planning on fixing that.”

When Josie next spoke, Penelope could hear the smile in her voice.

“Well, I look forwards to that.”

+++

After talking to Josie for nearly an hour more, the two of them ended the call. Penelope found that she was quite hungry, so she headed down to the kitchen to see if there was anything to eat.

When she got down there, her dad was sitting at the counter, typing on his laptop. He looked up at her with a smile.

“I heard you on the phone, who was that?”

Penelope tried to hide her blush as she headed for the fridge.

“It was Josie.”

“Are you two any closer to being in an actual relationship? Because, I don’t want to push you, but that girl makes you shine.”

Penelope smiled at the thought that even her dad could see how happy Josie made Penelope.

“I think we’re getting closer. I think I’m nearly ready.”

“That’s my girl. Do you think I need to redo my shovel talk, or should I not worry?”

Penelope pulled a packet of M&Ms out of the fridge and turned to look for a bowl to pour them into.

“I think we’re good. Besides, I’m the one who hurt her.”

Her father shrugged.

“Pen, there’s always more to the story then that, but alright. No shovel talks.”

They stayed in silence as Penelope poured her M&Ms into the bowl. She was just about to announce her departure from the kitchen when he spoke again.

“Hey Pen, have you called your mum yet?”

Penelope’s heart sank. Her dad didn’t know. 

Shit, just how much did he know? Did he know about the boyfriend? About how long they’d been seeing each other?

“Yeah, actually, I called her last night.”

He looked surprised, which was probably to be expected. Penelope had been pretty resistant to the idea of calling her.

“Really? How’d it go?”

Reluctant to answer that, Penelope asked a question of her own.

“Why did you want me to call her so bad?”

Her dad sighed, and shut his laptop so he could properly focus on her.

“Because, she’s your mother, and I didn’t want you losing her forever. I knew she wouldn’t call first, she’s stubborn like that, but I thought maybe if you called, she’d keep in touch.” He looked at her with sorrow in his eyes. “I’m guessing by your face that it didn’t go well.”

Penelope nodded, “She wasn’t the one who picked up the phone.”

When her father’s eyes filled with understanding, Penelope felt a little bit relieved. She hadn’t really wanted to be the one to break his heart.

“Shit. I’m sorry Pen.”

“You knew?”

“Yeah. Your mother told me before she came back. That was the reason why she wanted to legally separate, because he’s apparently a great guy, and she wanted a real chance to start over,” he told her, looking like the words were acid on his tongue.

“Well, I guess the new start didn’t include me, because he didn’t know I existed.”

That did get a reaction out of him.

“What?”

“She didn’t tell him that she had a kid. So, that was fun to find out about.” Penelope felt tears prick the corner of her eyes. Hadn’t she just made the decision to not be upset about this anymore?

“I feel so stupid being upset about this. I’m not letting her make me upset anymore,” Penelope said, more to herself than to her father.

Her father stood and opened his arms.

“Come here Pen.”

Penelope didn’t need to be told twice. She rushed over to her father, letting herself get enveloped in his arms.

She didn’t remember the last time he’d hugged her.

It felt really nice. 

She was crying into his shirt, and she almost wanted to apologise, but then she heard him sniffle, and decided against it.

They stood there for a while, both of them crying in each other’s arms. 

Penelope didn’t think she’d felt this kind of comfort and support from her dad in ages.

She’d really been missing out.

When they pulled back, he gripped her shoulders, and looked her right in the eyes.

“Look Pen, I know I haven’t been at my best recently, and I am so sorry for that. I haven’t been the father you deserved, and I cannot make up for all the time I have wasted. But I promise you, I’m gonna be better. I will support you as much as you need, and I will be there for you. Do you understand?”

Penelope smiled at him.

“Yeah dad, I understand. And I get it; mum leaving was really hard. I know you needed time. But I’ve really missed my dad.”

He smiled, eyes shining.

“I’ve missed being there properly for you. You’re so strong, and I’m so proud of you, you know that? I wouldn’t want anyone else to be my daughter.”

“You sure? I can be a handful sometimes.”

He laughed, “Every kid can be a handful. That just comes with the territory. But you’ve got a good heart, and that’s what’s important. You care, even though you’ve struggled. And you’re trying to be better every day. I can see that, so can everyone. So can Josie.” He laughed and lifted his hands off of her shoulders, straightening.

“When you two sort out your problems, she’s going to be one lucky girl.”

Penelope nodded, “I really love her, dad.” The words still stole beats from her heart, but they felt right. Her dad, who obviously didn’t know how big that was for her, just smiled and ruffled her hair.

“I know you do. Hell, I think you’ve loved her since the first time you met.” He chuckled. “You know, you came home after your first day of kindergarten, raving about this Josie Forbes-Laughlin girl, how she was so pretty, and so funny, and so nice, and how she was gonna be your best friend in the world.”

Penelope blushed, looking down at her feet. She had no doubt in the world that she had definitely sounded like that.

“And then I watched the two of you as you grew up.” He shook his head, laughing. “You two always stuck by each other. It didn’t matter what came between you, you’d always fall back together. I always loved her of course, because I could tell that she made you happy, and that was really all I’d ever wanted.”

Penelope shrugged, “She’s my Jojo.”

He nodded, “Yeah, she is. When you came out to us, I wasn’t surprised, because I’d watched you love Josie before you knew what the word meant. And when you walked into this kitchen, holding hands, proclaiming that you were dating, do you remember what I said?”

“It’s about time. I thought you’d never figure it out.” Penelope laughed, thinking of how her dad was definitely going to be reusing that line.

He sighed, “When the two of you broke up, I didn’t get it, but I knew you didn’t want me to ask questions, so I left it, but I had hope. I knew you wouldn’t just let her go. Even if you tried, there would always be a part of you that belonged to her, and wanted to find its way home.”

That put it very well. Even when Penelope had tried to be okay without Josie, her heart had ached for just the presence of the girl every single day.

“I fucked it up, because I got scared. I’m not scared anymore. Love might hurt, but hey, what’s new?”

He nodded, “It’s like The Princess Bride. ‘Life is pain, anyone who says different is selling something’.”

Penelope rolled her eyes, “You’re a nerd.”

“Don’t deny the fact that you love that movie.”

“It’s a classic.”

“Exactly.” He nodded at her. “Alright, you should go upstairs, get some sleep. These next few weeks are gonna be rough, so you’re gonna need all the help you can to make it through.”

Penelope nodded, realising that she actually did feel tired. It must have been all the emotional rollercoastering of the day.

“Okay dad, I’ll head up. Thanks for the talk. I’m glad you’re back.”

He grinned, and Penelope left the kitchen.

Her dad was back. 

Penelope was feeling good.

And she had a plan to tell the girl she loved the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I quite liked writing this chapter, mostly because it was nice to have Penelope finally take this step! I also liked it, because I have been tragically neglecting Hope, and I thought we all deserved some Hope and Penelope friendship content! So, I hope you guys liked it!  
> Now, next week's chapter might be a bit late, because next week is basically exam week for me, and I have a lot of study to do, and even though I'll probably ignore that and write on this instead, I really should do my study. So, if there's a delay, do not panic, just hope that I didn't fail any of my tests! A little preview for that chapter, as always: Josie deals with the lead up to Opening Night!  
> Until then, remember not to stress yourself out unnecessarily, and that there is always a reason to smile!


	39. Chapter 39

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everybody! I know I said this chapter would be late, but I didn't really think it would be this late, so here's a little explanation. Like I said, I had basically exam week, which sucked, but it turns out I actually did pretty good, so yay me! But then, after that, I got sick, and was too tired to write. So, that's why this was a whole week late, but don't worry, I am all good now, and here is the chapter!  
> Enjoy!

Josie wasn’t sure if she was about to cry, throw up, or scream.

Maybe all three, if the emotions got too much.

Opening night.

She been dreaming of this for months. Technically years, if you counted all the times she’d thought about being the lead of a play and stepping out onto the stage for the first time.

The play wasn’t even until eight-thirty that night, and it was currently four in the afternoon, but Josie had been losing it all day. 

She wasn’t the only one. Lizzie had been pacing around her room, loud music blaring from it since she’d gone up after breakfast. The only time that she’d stopped had been to call Hope, which thankfully had lasted at least an hour.

Josie was so close to getting a headache from the noise.

Which would not help the nerves.

At least she had Penelope.

Penelope had done the whole ‘being in the spotlight’ thing before. She knew what she was getting into, and from what Josie could gather, she was more excited, and less nervous.

So, she was basically Josie’s rock right now. They’d been texting all day, and Penelope was the only one stopping her from going into a full-grown spiral.

Which would be bad, because she needed to be on top of her game today. Opening night was important.

Well, all the shows were important, but this felt somehow incredibly significant.

However, opening night wasn’t the only thing stuck on Josie’s mind.

There was also Penelope’s sort of promise, that after the play was all done, she was going to ask Josie out.

Josie was hesitant to think about what she was going to do; she told herself that in the moment she would know what her answer was, but, well, she was scared.

What if in the moment, Penelope hadn’t yet said that she loved Josie, and Josie couldn’t break her promise to herself? What if Josie had to turn her down? Would that be it for them? Would Penelope give up? 

Would Josie give up?

She knew she shouldn’t be stressing about it, that Penelope had told her because it was a good thing, and Penelope had told her she would handle the possible problems, but Josie was a natural overthinker.

She hadn’t told Lizzie, because she knew her sister would lose her mind. Also, Josie didn’t want to handle the possibility that Lizzie might, with all seriousness, tell her that it was a bad idea, that they weren’t ready.

Josie was ready, of that she was sure. She was ready to be Penelope’s girlfriend again, to be able to kiss her freely, to hang out with her without that weird barrier between them.

But what if Penelope was still recovering from the hurt that Josie had inflicted when she’d called her broken? What if the thing with her mum was still messing with her?

No. 

Josie needed to stop overthinking about that.

She needed to focus on the play, and she needed to trust Penelope.

Josie’s door slammed open, and Josie jumped so violently, she lost her balance, and fell off the bed.

“Josie!” Lizzie looked down at her on the floor and frowned. “Why are you on the floor?”

“Ow,” Josie responded, rubbing her arm, as she had hit in on her desk in an effort to not fall.

“Whatever, the reason I came in here was to let you know that Hope said she’s thinking of getting there early, and I’m going with her.”

Josie blinked, “Okay. And you burst in my room to tell me this because I care deeply about you and your girlfriend?”

Lizzie rolled her eyes, “She’s giving Penelope a ride. So, maybe you might want to come as well, and then the two of you can…do some warmups.” Lizzie winked at Josie, who decided that she never wanted her twin to do that ever again.

“Ugh, Lizzie.” 

Lizzie walked over and sat on Josie’s bed. Josie did not move from the floor, mostly because she couldn’t be bothered. Besides, her floor was nice.

“Okay, fine, it’s probably for the best that you don’t like, make out in the music room or whatever. Even if it would help you get into character.” She leant back. “But you could give her your opening night gift without there being a crowd, or a rush.”

Okay, that was an idea.

Josie pulled herself onto the bed.

“You really think she’ll like it?”

Lizzie scoffed, “One, it’s from you, she’ll love it. Two, she’s such a dork, she’ll love it.”

Josie blushed, “Thanks Lizzie.”

Lizzie nodded, “Any time. Now, Hope is coming to get us in half an hour. I took the liberty of making up your makeup bag, here it is,” Lizzie said, placing the bag on the bed next to her.

“Your costumes are at the school, which means that you just have to get the present, and your common sense. The second one might be hard.”

Josie tried to hit Lizzie, but her twin was too quick, and she flashed Josie a grin and blew her a kiss as she backed out the doorway.

“Love you Jo.”

Josie stood up and closed the door behind her. Seriously, would it kill Lizzie to just shut the stupid door. 

Okay. 

She needed to get the gift.

Josie hadn’t exactly been planning to get Penelope a gift. Like, she hadn’t sat down one day, and come up with a plan, and then executed that plan. 

No, she had just been wandering through the shops, and she’d seen it, and just immediately thought of Penelope.

Penelope sometimes sent her videos of her reading passages from the poetry book that Josie had gotten her, so that present had obviously gone well. So, why not get her another?

Besides, it would be a nice little gesture to get Penelope something for opening night. Just a little ‘good luck’ present.

It wasn’t anything special, it was actually kind of silly, but Josie knew that Penelope wouldn’t care.

It was a necklace with a basketball pendant on the end, and on the back, in tiny writing, it said ‘To My Superstar’. As Penelope was playing Troy, basketball superstar, it was only fitting that Penelope had a necklace to remind her of this performance afterwards.

Josie picked up the box in which the necklace was stored, and put it with the bag she was taking to the theatre. In the bag was a change of normal clothes, just in case, a water bottle, and the script, also just in case.

She put the makeup bag in as well, and then zipped it up.

A knock at the door made her look up, and she smiled when it opened to reveal Jo.

“Hey Gabriella, you ready for the stage,” she teased. Josie rolled her eyes.

“Mum, you can just call me Josie. I’m not Gabriella just yet.”

Her mum walked over and sat next to her.

“I know, but I’m just…making sure that you’re in character. I wish that Caroline and I could be there for opening night, but that just means you’ll have more to tell us when you get home.”

Josie nodded, “Definitely, you’ll be wanting me to shut up by the end.”

Jo laughed, “I just know that you’re going to be amazing. That audience won’t know what hit them. You and Penelope are gonna be killer. Plus, Lizzie’s makeup is going to look gorgeous.”

Josie smiled, “She’s very excited. In the dress rehearsal she did some partial makeup, and it looks really good. She’s a little annoyed that her Sharpay look, which is her favourite, is going to be ‘wasted on Jade’, but it’s still cool.”

“So, we don’t hate Jade, just to be clear?”

“No mum, we don’t. Everything’s cool now.”

Jo smiled, “That’s one thing about you, you’re extremely forgiving. Unlike your sister, I swear that girl is still mad about people who wronged her like twelve years ago.”

“You say that as a joke, but I know it’s a fact.”

+++

Josie and Lizzie left the house at the very moment that Hope pulled up. 

Hope rolled down her window.

“Hey, I’m here to pick up two gorgeous idiots?”

Lizzie rolled her eyes, but didn’t even try to hide her smile.

“Well, at least you acknowledge that we’re gorgeous.” She peered through the car window.

“Penelope, get out of the shotgun seat.”

Penelope stuck her head next to Hope’s.

“Absolutely not, you are not abusing girlfriend privileges.”

Hope turned to look at her.

“Pen.”

“No.”

“Penelope.”

“Hope.”

“Get into the backseat.”

“How could you betray me like this?” Penelope threw open the door and dramatically walked around to the other side, where she opened the door. She looked up and smiled at Josie.

“You get in first Jojo.”

“Someone is really trying to get into character, I see,” Josie said with a smile as she slid in. Penelope followed her and shut the door behind her.

“Or maybe I’ve just always been a gentlewoman.”

“Gentle? You?” Lizzie scoffed as she pulled her seatbelt on. 

“Hey, I can be quite lovely.”

“In Josie’s dreams maybe.”

Josie kicked Lizzie’s seat. Lizzie and Hope just laughed, and then linked their hands over the console.

Penelope and Josie exchanged a look of ‘they’re cute, but they’re annoying’.

Hope handed her phone to Lizzie.

“Here, you can DJ. But if you play any High School Musical, I legally am allowed to kill you.”

“You’d kill me? Your beautiful girlfriend?”

“If you play the songs I’m about to hear on repeat for the next two days, and have been hearing on repeat for the past few months, yes I will not hesitate.”

“It’s true. I put on Breaking Free as a joke and she nearly punched me in the throat,” Penelope chimed in with a grin. Josie turned to stare at her.

“She what?”

“It’s fine, she missed.”

“Only because I was driving, and it’s bad form to look away from the road.”

“Okay sure thing Hopey.”

“Josie, hit her for me.”

Predictably, the rest of the carried was spent full of bickering and singing. Lizzie put on Party in the USA, and Josie had to keep reminding herself that she needed to not ruin her voice the afternoon of her first big performance.

When they got to the campus, Lizzie and Hope disappeared without explanation, which mean that Josie didn’t want an explanation, so she just headed in.

The theatre in which they had been rehearsing would be their official theatre. With many rows of seats, curtains for the stage, and access to the green room and dressing rooms, it was perfect.

As it was only five o’clock, and Kol had only asked them to be there at six-thirty, the theatre was relatively empty. The stage was completely bare, and Josie actually had to turn the lights on.

Penelope hopped up on the stage and spun around, beaming.

“You feel that Jojo? That’s the energy of opening night. It’s going to be good.”

“Oh, so you’re telling me you’re a witch with the power of foresight now?”

Penelope grinned, “Nope, but I don’t need magic to know that this cast is amazing. We’re gonna kill it, okay? You’re gonna kill it.” She reached her hand out for Josie, and so Josie hopped up on the stage and walked over.

“If you think about it, you really are Gabriella. She was terrified to sing Breaking Free with Troy, but look what happened to her.”

“That’s a made-up story Penelope.”

Penelope shrugged, “Fiction often mirrors reality. You are Gabriella, and I am your Troy. Charming, attractive, has definitely messed up, but will do anything to fix it.” She grinned and then snapped her fingers. “Which reminds me.”

Penelope ran over to where she’d dropped her bag, and began to rummage through it. Josie watched her curiously. Penelope made a noise of excitement, and then held up a box.

“A gift for my leading lady.” She beamed over at Josie, who blushed.

Josie hadn’t been expecting Penelope to get her a gift, but it certainly wasn’t unwelcome.

“I actually got you a gift as well,” Josie admitted. Penelope’s face lit up even more, if that was possible.

“Wait, really? I guess we are in tune after all.”

Josie walked over to her bag and pulled out her own gift.

“Here, let’s unwrap now?”

“I don’t see why not.”

The two girls struggled for a moment before opening their separate gifts. Josie stopped before checking to see what she’d gotten, so she could watch Penelope’s reaction. 

She was so adorable to watch when she got presents.

Penelope’s brow furrowed in confusion as she first looked at it, and then her face lit up, eyes widening, lips pulling back into an ecstatic grin as she laughed.

“Josie, did you get me a basketball necklace?”

Josie nodded, feeling her face heating up a little.

“I thought it might be a nice little memento of this experience. There’s something written on the back.”

Penelope turned the necklace over and then read it out,

“To my Superstar.” She looked back up at Josie, still grinning. “Is Troy the superstar, or is it me?”

“Both?”

Penelope nodded, “Both is good.” She sighed. “I kind of want to wear this during the performance.”

“Alyssa will pull your teeth out; you know how she feels about changes to the costume.”

Penelope shrugged, “Maybe I’ll risk it.” She laughed. “Well, this actually lines up perfectly with your present. Look.” She pointed to the unwrapped box in Josie’s hand.

Josie looked back down and opened it. Inside there was a brown bracelet, with music note charms dangling off the end. There was a little piece of paper attached, which read,  
“To my Leading Lady. We’re in this together.” She looked up at Penelope who was grinning just like she used to when she was a kid and she’d made what she considered to be an excellent joke.

“Now I kinda want to wear this during the performance,” Josie told her.

Penelope’s eyes lit up.

“So, you like it?”

Josie grinned, “Pen, I love it. I guess we really are in sync.”

“That bodes very well for the play.” Penelope bounced up and down on her feet a few times.

“How you feeling now?”

Josie shrugged, “Uh, well, I kind of want to throw up still, but I’m sure that will pass.”

“You know, feeling nerves is just your body’s way of giving you the tools to fight off or run away from a threat? So, just embrace the nerves, use the energy to your advantage.” Penelope spun around on the stage with her arms outstretched, as if that somehow proved her point.

“Is that what you do?”

“Yeah of course. I’m scared shitless every time I go on stage, but I just channel it, and I remind myself why I love performing so much.”

Josie nodded.

“You should do it too Jojo. Especially the second bit. Remind yourself why you’re doing this, and it’ll be easier to do it.”

Josie closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm her body so that her mind could focus.

She was doing this, because she loved singing, and dancing, and the way it made her feel to put on another character. Theatre made her feel free, made her come alive. And yes, she’d be on a stage in front of a stack of people, but they were all there to watch her flourish, to watch her stepping into the light.

So, she would. She would give them a show to remember, every night.

Tonight was no exception. 

She opened her eyes to find Penelope looking at her with a grin.

“So? Do you feel better?”

“Maybe I do. Thanks.”

Penelope shrugged, “Just gotta have my leading lady on top of the game.”

“Are you ever going to stop calling me that?”

“Nope, it’s stuck in my mind now.”

+++

Until it was time for the play, Penelope and Josie mostly just wandered the halls of the school, talking about whatever was on their minds, and occasionally rehearsing lines. After an hour, Hope and Lizzie showed up, looking very dishevelled, and Josie sincerely hoped that her sister hadn’t just decided to fuck Hope in a supply closet.

Because seriously, there were so many better places to do things like that.

They then all headed back to the theatre for call time. They didn’t need to get dinner, because Kol had already gathered everyone’s allergies and dietary restrictions, and was going to head out to Subway at seven to get everyone food.

They had to pay for it, but it was still cool. 

People were already there, so they just hung around, waiting for their friends. 

Maya, Ethan, Landon, and Rafael all arrived at the same time, as they had carpooled. They all immediately fell into easy conversation with the girls. Maya was mostly freaking out over her big dance break, Ethan was just hoping that he wouldn’t mess up his lines, Landon was frantically trying to remember all the lighting cues, and Rafael was absently humming ‘Getcha Head in the Game’ under his breath.

MG and Kaleb arrived not long after and joined the circle. Those two boys certainly had a lot that they were focusing on, and they were very excited to see how the play worked out in the end.

Everyone filed in, and soon, they were all gathered on the stage, babbling excitedly, terrified and excited.

There was truly nothing like it.

And then, at 6:32pm, Kol bustled through the door, Davina not far after him. She’d agreed to help out with the tech crew and some of the ushering. She was very good in high stress situations, and so everyone was on board with her assistance.

Kol gathered them in a circle and grinned.

“Alright players, this is it. This is the moment you’ve all been working towards. Tonight, we’re going to see all that effort and practice pay off, and it’s going to be amazing. I am so proud of you guys and everything you have accomplished with this play.” He paused and Josie realised that he was tearing up.

He swallowed a few times, and then continued.

“Okay, here’s how tonight is gonna run. Just run lines for the next thirty minutes. I’ll go get dinner, then we’ll eat at seven. Doors open at eight, so by seven thirty I want to be in costumes, makeup, and I want you doing warmups. If I am not there, Kaleb and MG will lead you in warmups. At eight-thirty, you need to be ready to go, no exceptions. The play is split into two parts; as you know there will be a fifteen-minute intermission, so you can take a breather and get ready for Act Two. Then we’re back on.” 

He stopped for breath, and Josie, who had already memorised the schedule when he’d first given it to them last week, was just thinking over each step she needed to do.

“I’m gonna get into the car to go get the stuff, Ms Claire will be here for anything you need.” He flicked them a thumbs up, and then ran for the door.

Ms Claire turned to them.

“You heard the man, run your lines while you wait for dinner.”

And so, they did.

+++

It was currently eight, which meant that the doors had just opened, and people would soon be flooding into the theatre. The green room was well soundproofed, so they could all gather and talk in there, even if there was a strict noise limit for ease of cues to be given.

Dinner was spent outside, because they would get in so much trouble if they spilled food anywhere. Which, with someone like Penelope, who was very good at accidentally leaving crumbs on the floor, was probably a good idea.

Then they got into their costumes for the first scene. They didn’t have too many costume changes, but there were enough that Josie was a little stressed about getting the order right. After she was dressed, Lizzie did her makeup. Alyssa was helping out with makeup, much to Lizzie’s chagrin, but she needed the extra hands, so she didn’t put up too much of a fuss.

Josie spent way too long looking at herself in the mirror once her makeup was done. It wasn’t a vanity thing, more a contemplation thing. She didn’t look altogether too different with the makeup, but she felt different. 

It was a good different. 

When she looked away from the mirror, she noticed Penelope looking away quickly. That girl was not subtle. Josie smiled. 

It felt nice to know that Penelope had been watching her. Because Josie would definitely have done the same in her position.

And she did, about ten minutes later, when Lizzie was telling Penelope to keep still so she could properly apply her eyeliner. Penelope was too focused on annoying Lizzie, and she didn’t notice Josie watching. 

She was so beautiful. Sometimes Josie felt that she got too accustomed to Penelope and how gorgeous she was. It was always good to take a moment to really soak in and appreciate it.

Penelope’s eyes moved to meet Josie’s in the mirror and she grinned. Josie didn’t even try to act like she hadn’t been staring.

All of that led them to now. When they were standing in a circle, with Kol about to lead them in his big speech.

“Okay guys. Now, I know you’re probably expecting a pep talk, but I wanted to do something different. I want each of you to tell me how you’re feeling right now, but I want you to say it as if you are your character, getting ready for a performance.” He grinned at them. A few smiles broke through their own nerves to match his expression.

“Now come on guys, don’t be shy on me now. Who wants to start?”

There was silence. Josie looked around, hoping that someone else would say something. 

She made eye contact with Penelope, who made a tiny motion with her head as if to say ‘come on Jojo, you’ve got this’. 

And so, Josie spoke.

“Hey everyone, I’m Gabriella, and I’ve never been the person to go on stage and stuff. I was always the quiet maths girl. I honestly don’t know how I got this part, and I’m really nervous.” Josie took a steadying breath, this time finding Hope’s eyes. Hope nodded. 

“But, I’m also really excited. This play seems really cool, and I hope I can do it justice.” She beamed at them all, the smile she’d been working on for ages. They all started clapping, Kol nodding proudly.

“Just like that.”

Without even needing a prompt, Penelope stepped forwards.

They had considered for a little bit, making Troy ‘Troyella’ or something, but had ultimately decided against it. So, Penelope just dropped her voice a little, and would just try her best to embody a sports bro.

“Hey guys, I’m Troy. Usually, I’d be getting ready for a basketball game, but ever since I met this girl, I’ve been doing new things. I’m finally following my heart, and I’m actually going on stage to sing. It’s gonna be so cool.” She threw them all a charming grin, and added in a wink at Josie.

After that, people volunteered pretty quick.

“I am Mrs Darbus, and I think all of you need to just embrace the theatre. This is going to be the biggest show East High has ever put on, and I am counting on every one of you to make it perfect!” Hope flicked her hair as best she could, which got a laugh out of everyone.

“I am Sharpay Evans, and I don’t even know why you losers are here. This is my show, I’m the person who should be the lead, and all of you need to get on my level.” Jade’s Sharpay voice was actually pretty on point, and so was her overdramatic expression.

“What’s up, I’m Chad, and I don’t really do this nerdy theatre stuff, but for my bro Troy, I can give it a try.” He hopped across the circle to give Penelope a fist bump.

“Ryan here. Me and my sister are better than all of you. But seriously, come watch us, it’s going to be amazing.” Josie didn’t focus too much on Ethan when he talked, she focused instead on Landon, who was watching him with a dreamy expression.

“I’m Taylor, and this theatre stuff is like, way too much movement for me, and I prefer science, but Gabriella wanted me to help her, so, I’m here for her.” Maya gave Josie a smile, and Josie returned it, not acting at all.

Kol clapped his hands, “Okay, and non-actors, do we have anything to say?”

Lizzie sighed, “Don’t mess up. I know you guys have got this, and I will be watching from the wings.”

Landon shrugged, “I’m gonna do my best to get those lights and effects on point.” He scratched the back of his neck. “I should probably get going actually, so uh, bye guys.” They all waved as Landon sprinted out of the room.

Alyssa gave them a glare, “Don’t you dare mess this up. Especially not in my fabulous outfits.”

Kaleb and MG looked at each other, then at the group.

“What team?”

Everyone responded, yelling so loudly that the audience definitely heard.

“Wildcats! Getcha head in the game!”

They all burst into laughter, grinned at each other with the excitement that this was finally happening. The band was in position, the audience was filtering in, and they were in costume. Kol would introduce them, and then it was show time.

“Alright everyone, get to your places!”

+++

Penelope and Josie waited offstage. Penelope was behind the wing across the stage from Josie, as they were supposed to enter from different sides before they were pulled up to perform ‘Start of Something New’. 

Josie’s legs felt like they were gearing up to run a marathon. She’d done like a million breathing exercises, because she needed to not pass out.

Kol was just finishing up his intro, which meant he’d be heading off soon, and then the background people would be heading on, and then Penelope, and then Josie, and then they’d be singing.

The audience applauded for Kol, and he headed off, patting Penelope on the shoulder as he passed her.

The background people filled the stage, walking around the props, the lights changing. 

Penelope made eye contact with Josie, and then held up three fingers, like she always did in rehearsal.

Josie held up three fingers to match her.

They would count down together, just to get their intro in perfect time.

Three.

Two.

One.

Showtime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Showtime indeed! Now, if you have watched the show, you will be aware that in the show, the play is literally a garbage fire. As a theatre kid myself, that was painful to watch, so I've decided to deviate from the storyline a bit there. Y'all know I like to add my own spin on these stories. If you haven't watched the show, all good, you don't need to, just read and vibe!  
> Next chapter, we're still in Josie's perspective, pretty much continuing from where we left off! That chapter will most likely be within a week, as usual, so get hyped! We're getting very close to the end!  
> Until then, remember that life is actually pretty cool, and you're definitely even more awesome than you think you are!


	40. Chapter 40

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I don't have much to babble on here about, except to tell you that we're carrying on from right where we left off!  
> Enjoy!

Everything passed in a blur. One moment she was counting down with Penelope in the wings, and then she was on stage, the lights blinding her. She blinked once, just to adjust her vision, but then she continued, now in character, ready for the scene.

The lines that introduced them were said, and suddenly she was next to Penelope up the front. They both said their lines about how they didn’t sing, and then, of course, they began to sing.

They’d done it a million times, so Josie wasn’t too stressed. What amazed her was just how good they sounded, just how good it felt.

There wasn’t too much movement involved in this scene, just little stuff, to enhance chemistry, and make the scene feel less stale. Which was good, because Josie wasn’t sure she could trust her legs to do any complicated dance right now.

Penelope grinned at her and sang at her like she’d never felt freer in her life. Josie wondered if maybe that might be true.

She knew that she herself felt free. 

Unburdened.

They finished the song and said their lines. As always, Josie found herself getting easily charmed by Penelope as Troy. She pulled off ‘jock’ very well, surprisingly. 

Maybe she’d gotten some tips from Jed.

Then suddenly, they were both off stage, and the audience was clapping, as they did after a scene. 

Josie ended up backstage, mind reeling. 

Woah.

She’d just gone on stage for the first time to perform, and she’d sung, and acted, and it had been good.

Great, even.

Lizzie rushed over to her, and wrapped her up in a hug.

“Congratulations Jo, you did so good,” she whispered into Josie’s ear. Josie grinned, the adrenaline racing through her body finally feeling good, rather than making her want to vomit. It made her want to run back on stage and give her all, to amaze the audience as much as she could.

“I did so good.”

“Yeah you did, leading lady.”

Josie looked up to see that Penelope had made her way to this room, and she was grinning at Josie widely.

“But don’t celebrate too much, too soon. We’ve got a whole show to go through.”

Josie nodded, still smiling.

“We’re gonna do great.”

Penelope winked. “Of course we will. Now come on, you’ve gotta get into your new costume.”

+++

The play seemed to last forever, and simultaneously go by in a blink.

Josie went through her lines, acted as best she could, and sang all her songs. The basics, of course.

The hard part was making the audience feel the magic of the theatre.

Every now and then, she’d chance a glance into the audience. She couldn’t see all that well, because of the spotlight blinding her, so she couldn’t see if they audience looked like they were enjoying the play.

But they clapped after her songs, and they laughed where they were supposed to.

And Josie, who flourished very much on the approval of others, felt her heart beat out of her chest every time that happened.

It truly felt like everyone became their characters as they performed.

Maya was no longer the girl who she’d had such a strange relationship with, she was Taylor, and they were best friends.

Jade was no longer her ex, she was the bitchy popular girl, who could do a brilliant glare.

Hope wasn’t her best friend, she was their drama teacher, a very fed up one at that. Josie could see little bits of Kol bleeding through in her performance.

And then there was Penelope.

For Josie, there was really no change.

Gabriella was in love with Troy, madly so, and even when he broke her heart, she still found her way back to him.

It was really shocking how well the play represented her own life.

Penelope made Josie fall in love with every line, every note, every movement and smile.

Over and over again.

Under the lights, there was nothing but love. 

Josie wanted to feel like that forever.

And she thought, just maybe, once this was all over, she might get to.

+++

Intermission was strange. Basically, the whole cast, except Landon, who stayed at lights, was sitting in a circle in the green room, excitedly murmuring about Act 1.

Josie still wasn’t over Penelope’s ‘Getcha Head in the Game’ performance. 

Who knew that pretending to play basketball as you sang could be so attractive?

Penelope was unable to sit still, so, she was sitting on the edge of a table, her feet swinging back and forth.

Josie was lying on the ground, trying to deal with all the buzzing excitement in her mind.

Her lines seemed to blur together, but she wasn’t even stressed that she’d forget them. 

She knew what she was doing.

“Hey Jojo?”

Josie looked up at Penelope, who was still in her basketball outfit.

“Yeah Pen?”

“I told you that you were going to be the best actress on the stage.”

Josie sat up and frowned.

“When did you say that?”

“I texted it to you. Back in rehearsals, back in the first readthrough actually.”

And suddenly Josie remembered.

Penelope had texted her halfway through, and Josie had pretended that it had been her mother, because she didn’t know how to explain the way her heart raced when she saw Penelope’s compliment.

At least she could explain it now.

Love.

“That’s right. Wow, that feels like years ago.”

“You were so pissed at me at that point.”

“Yeah. because you were being an idiot.”

“That’s very fair, I was. I’ve grown.”

Josie looked at Penelope, and from the confidence in her smile, she could tell that even Penelope believed that.

“You have.”

Penelope’s smile grew even wider, and Josie felt her heart melt. 

+++

Act Two passed so quickly.

One moment, Josie was dramatically singing about her heartbreak, alone, on the stage, and then suddenly, her and Penelope were singing Breaking Free.

Breaking Free was the big climax of the show for Josie. It was where Gabriella and Troy were finally able to shine, were finally able to be themselves.

Singing it with Penelope, well, that was an insane rush. She barely felt real in that moment. It felt like she was a figment of her own imagination, a dream of a possible future.

And at one point, she supposed that was what this moment was.

Singing with Penelope, onstage as a leading lady, feeling confident in herself? Yeah, there were definitely a million iterations of Josie that were dreaming of this moment.

But she got to be the one to experience it as a reality. And that was something she definitely wouldn’t give up.

After they left the stage following that scene, everything flowed on quickly, and then it was time for bows. Kol had the idea that they would all come out singing We’re All in This Together, and then when they were all on stage, they’d do the dance.

Josie and Penelope were the last to run on. Josie was in a beautiful red dress, and Penelope was in a white jumpsuit. 

“You ready for this Jojo?” Penelope looked to her with a grin.

Josie nodded. “Just as ready as I’ve always been.”

It was an incredible feeling, really. 

To come out on stage, and hear the applause grow to a roar, to hear cheers and whoops from the audience.

Josie didn’t even notice Penelope stepping back, until she felt Penelope’s hand leave hers.

When Josie turned to see where she’d gone, she saw that Penelope was clapping for her.

Josie turned back to the audience, and curtsied.

Then she pulled Penelope in front of her, and clapped for her.

Penelope looked back at Josie, winked at her, and then turned to bow for the audience.

The music kicked in, and suddenly the whole ensemble was singing and dancing. Josie could feel the energy level on the stage, and it was incredible. 

It felt like the stage itself was alive.

Kol came on stage, and everyone cheered. He took a bow and then turned to them.

He nodded, and they all turned to run off stage.

The very moment they got off stage, they burst with excitement. Words flowed from every person, everyone seemingly losing their mind.

Josie turned to look for Penelope to find her gone. Instead, Lizzie was there, with Hope, and then all three of them were talking.

Lizzie jumped, literally jumped, up and down.

“You guys were so good, it was so cool to hear all of you backstage. And you all looked gorgeous.” She turned to Hope specifically.

“I love your song so much, you did so well!”

Hope grinned. “I have to say that I’m very proud of that one.”

“As you should be.” She turned to Josie.

“Jo! You did it! You just played as the leading lady for a show!”

Josie still didn’t feel real. Her heart was racing too fast, surely this was a hallucination.

She was going to wake up, and it’d be the first day of school, she’d still be fighting with Penelope, Kol Mikaelson would be nothing but a story from Hope, and High School Musical would just be that one movie.

But with every moment, with every rushed breath, every beat of her heat in her ears, she felt more solid.

This was real.

She was standing here, and she was real, and holy fucking shit this was so cool!

Kol walked into the green room and clapped his hands.

“Alright everyone, I know we’re all buzzing, but we have to pack up, so, everyone clean up your own stuff, and then help out with others. Once you’re done, meet me on the stage for a debriefing.”

+++

It felt strange to change out of the Gabriella costume. True, she had changed costumes multiple times through the night, but this time it felt like she was finally changing back to Josie Saltzman. 

It was funny.

Usually, when she went on stage, or put on a part, it was because she wanted to be someone other than herself, someone more interesting, someone more likeable.

But right now, she didn’t feel that.

Gabriella was a good character to play, one that she greatly enjoyed playing, but Josie Saltzman wasn’t someone she felt bored being.

In fact, she felt somehow settled into herself, as if in learning how to be someone else, she’d learnt how to like herself better.

She felt more confident, she knew what she wanted, and she knew that she wasn’t going to just roll over and take whatever was given to her.

“Jojo?”

Josie turned to look at the entrance to the changing room. Penelope was peaking her head inside, hand resting on the doorframe.

Her eyes settled on Josie and she smiled.

“There you are. Come on, everyone’s almost there.”

Josie nodded. “Yeah, just give me a sec.”

Penelope grinned. “You’re still feeling the high, aren’t you?”

Josie laughed. “Is it that obvious?”

“You’re glowing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this calm and happy in well…ever.” Her expression dropped a little, as if she was hurting for all the years Josie had spent not being true.

That had been one thing that Penelope had wanted from the start.

For Josie to believe in herself. 

And now it had happened.

“It looks good on you. I hope this isn’t just a onetime thing.”

Josie smiled.

“I don’t think it will be.”

+++

After that, time blurred again, and the next thing Josie knew, Lizzie was pulling up to their house.

Lizzie had been talking animatedly about something, probably Hope, so Josie had just zoned out so that she could think about the play.

She kept replaying the moment that she walked out for bows. 

The rush in her heart, the way it felt like she was immortal, untouchable, just for a moment, in the blinding light.

“Josie!”

Josie turned to look at Lizzie, who was frowning at her.

“Are you okay, I’ve been saying your name for like the past ten seconds?”

Josie smiled. “I’m great.”

Lizzie’s frown lifted slightly.

“You’re not lying.”

“Okay?”

Lizzie shook her head, laughing gently.

“No, what I mean is, usually when you say that you’re good, you’re lying to me, to get me off your back. But you aren’t now. You mean it. And I can see it.”

Josie nodded. “It felt so good to be on that stage. When we went out for bows, well, I think I want that feeling for the rest of my life.”

Lizzie smiled. “You deserve that feeling for the rest of your life. It’s what you’ve always deserved, you’re just now seeing it.”

The door to the house opened, and the twins turned to see that their mothers had stepped out. Their mothers waved at them.

“I guess we’d better go meet our adoring fans,” Lizzie said with a smirk.

Josie rolled her eyes and stepped out of the car. The moment she shut her door, her mothers were upon her, asking what felt like a million questions an hour.

Josie couldn’t make out any of it, so she just smiled. Lizzie took pity on her, and rose her voice.

“Mums, Josie needs to breathe.”

The two women immediately stepped back, babbling apologies. Josie just headed inside. She didn’t even bother listening to a word they said until she was lying on the couch.

Wow, she was tired.

“Josie, come on, you’ve gotta tell us how it went!” Her mums appeared at the edge of the couch, and Josie sighed, but not out of annoyance. In fact, her cheeks already hurt from smiling so much today, and her heart began to race again as she started telling the story of opening night.

Lizzie chimed in at every chance she got, but she was getting better at not going on tangents, and she let Josie do most of the retelling.

Once Josie was done, she barely had enough energy to shower and brush her teeth, but she managed to get it done. Right before she collapsed into bed, she checked her phone.

Was it because she was hoping for a text from Penelope? Yes, but there was actually one there, so Josie didn’t have to feel too silly for doing it.

She remembered Penelope’s gift, the one that was still sitting in her bag, and smiled.

It really was perfect. She was definitely going to try and sneak that onto stage, maybe closing night. 

**Pen <3😊: You did amazing tonight gorgeous, I can’t wait for tomorrow**

**Pen <3😊: I promise, it’ll be a night to remember**

With that promise in mind, Josie wasn’t sure how she fell asleep. Her mind could barely stop racing. But when it did, she fell into dreams of a shining stage, and the girl she loved, standing with her.

+++

The next morning went by too quickly. The matinee would start at 1pm, and they were expected to be there by 12pm, having eaten before they came.

Josie and Lizzie had some sandwiches that their mums made for them, and then they were getting into Hope’s car, ready to go to the theatre.

Josie was starting to feel the crash of energy, so, while she waited to the new wave of adrenaline to kick in, she slept on Penelope’s shoulder. Penelope, who was never tired, ever, did not seem to mind in the slightest.

Judging by the way that her first reaction was to start idly running her fingers through Josie’s hair, she actually quite liked it. 

And sure, maybe Josie was using her exhaustion as a way to be close with Penelope, but in her defence, Penelope was very good to sleep on. She had done it so many times. Lizzie definitely had pictures in her phone of Josie fallen asleep, and probably drooling, on Penelope’s shoulder.

She’d have to ask. For reminiscing purposes. And also, to delete them off of Lizzie’s phone so that she didn’t have access to any extra blackmail material.

It was always weird going to the school on the weekend. Josie wasn’t sure if it was stranger to see it at night time, or completely empty during the day.

There should be students everywhere, being stupid, and eating recess, or throwing footballs around as was apparently a great pastime. 

Walking through the hallways was weird too. It was so quiet, and all the classrooms were empty. It felt almost haunted, as if a thousand memories of students were following them.

It was strange, wasn’t it, how she’d formed memories with nearly every spot in this school. 

Every hallway had meaning, every room.

When had Josie got so sentimental? Maybe the fame had gone to her head.

Fame? Okay, yeah it definitely was getting to her. She might be getting ahead of herself here, it had been one night on the stage, it wasn’t really able to be considered fame quite yet.

However, for once, she didn’t try to quieten the voice that told her that one day, it surely would be fame.

+++

The matinee didn’t feel as big as opening night. While that may be due to the night adding extra dramatics, or the fact that Josie had already done this before, or maybe just the fact that the audience wasn’t nearly as big, it still felt calmer somehow. 

Josie wasn’t sure if that was necessarily better, but it was nice to not feel like throwing up. Nerves were good, but feeling literally nauseous was really not.

Penelope, strangely, seemed more nervous this time. There was this energy that seemed to be vibrating through her, and Josie noticed that when they were offstage, she kept looking at Josie.

Well, she kept looking at Josie more than she usually did, and there was something in her eyes that Josie couldn’t quite identify.

When they talked, she definitely seemed nervous. It was like she was trying to hold herself back somehow, as if there was something that she wanted to do or say, but couldn’t let herself.

Josie didn’t know if that was a good thing, but at least it didn’t affect her performance.

Actually, it almost made it better. 

Onstage, it felt like Penelope was practically bursting with love and adoration. Every song she sang, she sounded so caring, so adoring, that Josie could definitely tell that Penelope’s real feelings were bleeding through.

Penelope had always done that, added a little bit of her own feelings for Josie into Troy, and Josie had definitely done the same, but this was slightly different.

It was like she was using Troy as a vessel to express something that Penelope herself couldn’t.

Josie tried not to think too hard about it.

Just like she was trying hard not to think about Penelope’s promise that she was going to ask Josie out. Because Josie still didn’t know what she was going to say.

She wanted Penelope, but she hadn’t forgotten her promise to herself. If she broke the promise, in a way, she’d just be going back to where she’d been at the beginning, letting other people take precedence over herself. She wasn’t getting into a relationship with someone who wasn’t on the same page as her.

If her and Penelope were going to work, they needed to be able to make each other better. Or, to help each other be better.

At least the audience loved their duets. It was still breath-taking to hear the applause when she finished the final note, trying so hard to not pass out.

Maybe nerves would be good. That extra kick of adrenaline had never come. 

But the applause gave her life.

And so did Penelope’s smile.

So, maybe that was enough.

+++

All in all, Josie would classify the matinee as a success. 

Sure, there were slip ups, such as Ethan accidentally calling Maya by her real name, instead of by her characters name, or Josie forgetting to bring her prop book on stage, so she had to stand there with nothing to hold during one of her scenes, but they nailed the songs, so Josie would call that good.

The audience seemed to be filled with a lot of grandparents and little kids. More than once Josie had to force herself to ignore a little kid calling something out. 

It was hard. Children were adorable. 

Kol assured them that that night, they had a sold-out audience, and he wanted them there extra early, just so they could be as well prepared as possible. He seemed to be just a bit more excited than usual, which made Josie suspicious that something was going on, but she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, and put it down to his excitement over closing night.

Josie wasn’t sure what she was going to do when she got home. Maybe she’d lie on her bed, put on some Taylor Swift, and just try not to connect every song to her and Penelope’s relationship. That sounded like it could be fun.

Then Lizzie wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

“Get your things. We’re going to the park.”

Josie frowned. “Who’s we?”

“Me, you, Hope, Penelope. The Core Four, as Penelope so obnoxiously put it.” Lizzie wrinkled her nose, looking like it had made her feel sick just saying the words.

Josie was going to decline, to say that she needed time to recharge, and then she realised that maybe, this was what she needed. To just hang out with her closest friends, right before the big night.

Yeah, this would be good.

“Okay, give me five and I’ll meet you at Hope’s car.”

“I’ll give you five, Penelope will probably be in your room to get you after two.”

Josie rolled her eyes and headed off to her room.

When her and Penelope got to the car at the same time, halfway through a conversation, Lizzie and Hope both looked like they had much to say, but to Josie’s relief, they said none of it.

“To the park we go!”

+++

It wasn’t until they got to the park that Josie remembered the last time she’d been here.

It was the night when she’d called Penelope, to find out that her mother was back in time, and Penelope had run off to the park because she was too upset to go home. 

Josie had taken her home, they’d kissed, and then they’d actually sorted out their shit.

To this day, Josie was grateful that she’d made the choice to call Penelope, and that she’d actually been honest that night. If she hadn’t, who knew how long it would’ve taken for them to get to this point again.

Maybe they never would have. Maybe the hate would’ve actually taken over her emotions, and she never would have forgiven Penelope, would have never heard her side of the story. And maybe Penelope would’ve given up on Josie, maybe she would have chosen to date someone else, like Maya.

It was strange to think of a world where Josie didn’t love Penelope, where they weren’t like this. 

Without Penelope there to help motivate Josie to find her own light, maybe she’d still be lost in the dark.

Josie’s eyes met Penelope’s as they got out of the car, and she knew that Penelope was thinking of that night too.

Penelope smiled and walked over to Josie’s side.

“As shitty as that day was, I’m glad it brought us back into each other’s orbit.” Penelope whispered it like it was something so sacred and perfect that if it was heard by anyone else, it would be forever tainted.

Josie smiled. “We keep the world spinning.”

“We sure do.”

“Hey, stop flirting and get on the web with us!”

They turned to see that Hope had already scaled the climbing web, and Lizzie was glaring at them with her hands on her hips.

Josie and Penelope both giggled at each other, and then ran over.

Penelope, like the child she still was, climbed the web in no time, grinning at Hope as she reached her level.

Lizzie sighed, and pulled herself up. Josie knew that her sister had never had much interest in this park attraction, as she much preferred the swings, but for Hope, she’d probably do anything.

Hope and Penelope loved this web. They could sit on it for hours talking. Josie had no idea how they did it. 

When Josie finally reached the top, Hope was looking at Penelope with something akin to pride.

“What’s going on?” Josie turned to look at Penelope, who gave Josie a nervous smile.

“We’re just talking about closing night.”

“Ugh, boring, let’s talk about something that isn’t the play which has been consuming our lives?” Lizzie pulled herself up next to Hope.

Hope nodded. “She’s right.”

“Of course, you think she’s right, you’re her girlfriend.” Penelope grinned at Hope, who just rolled her eyes.

“You really want to talk about the play? Because I know for a fact that at Maccas tonight, we’re not going to shut up about it, so maybe let’s spend some time talking about other stuff.”

Penelope shrugged and nodded.

“Alright, that’s fair enough H. So, what’s the topic?”

There was silence for a moment as they all thought. Lizzie was the first to speak.

“Do you remember the first time that we came to this park?”

Everyone nodded, smiles coming to their faces at the memory. 

_\---_

_“Josette, I mean, Josie, come on!” Lizzie tugged at Josie’s hand, trying to pull her out of the car as fast as she could. She didn’t need to. Josie was just as excited about this trip as Lizzie was._

_Barely two weeks after meeting each other, they’d organised a playdate between them, Hope, and Penelope. They may have known Hope already, but hanging out with her at the park was new. Plus, Penelope would be there._

_Hope was already there, jumping up and down, probably looking for them. When her eyes met Lizzie’s, she started tugging on her mother’s hand, stabbing her finger in their direction._

_Lizzie and Josie sprinted over, giggling as they greeted Hope._

_“Alright girls, you be good. I’m going to go over to talk to your mum.” Hayley told them, before patting Hope’s head and moving away._

_Josie turned to Hope._

_“Is Penelope here yet?”_

_Hope shook her head._

_“My mum said that she was going to be a bit late.”_

_Lizzie scrunched up her face._

_“Can we go on the slide while we wait?”_

_Hope nodded, and ran over to the slide. Lizzie tugged on Josie’s hand, but Josie didn’t move._

_“Jo?”_

_“You go. I want to wait for Penelope.”_

_Lizzie looked like she wanted to argue, but when Hope called out for her, she shrugged and ran off._

_Josie didn’t have to wait for too long. Eventually, Penelope got out of the car, and whoever was driving it didn’t even wait for her to reach the playground before they left._

_As her friend got close, Josie saw that her eyes were red, and she looked a lot like Lizzie did whenever she got frustrated._

_Josie frowned._

_“Are you okay?”_

_Penelope rubbed at her eyes and nodded, but Josie could see that she was lying._

_“What happened?”_

_Penelope shifted nervously, like just speaking was going to get her in trouble._

_“My mum sometimes gets angry with me and my dad. My dad didn’t tell her that I had a playdate, and she got mad because she didn’t want to drive me. I don’t like it when she gets mad. It’s scary.” Penelope stumbled over the words with t’s in them, and she looked even more frustrated about it than she usually did._

_Josie felt an urge to hug Penelope as tight as she could and never let go. But she’d learnt that the other girl didn’t really like physical contact unless she was the one to enact it. Maybe one day Josie would get to hug her for as long as she could. Not today though._

_But still, maybe Josie could do something to make her feel better._

_Josie looked down at Penelope’s hand, and then made the choice to reach out and take it._

_Penelope frowned, but didn’t pull her hand away._

_“What are you doing?”_

_“I always feel better when someone hugs me, but you don’t like hugs, so I thought I’d just hold your hand.”_

_Penelope still looked a little confused, but she kept holding Josie’s hand._

_Josie squeezed her hand. “Come on, Lizzie and Hope are at the slide.”_

_“Are we gonna climb the web? Because I’m getting really good at it.” Penelope’s eyes were still red, but she looked excited about climbing._

_“Lizzie’s scared of heights, but Hope really likes climbing. Maybe you can climb it with her. And if you fall off then our mums will get you.”_

_Penelope nodded. “Okay.” Her face split into a cheeky grin. “Lead the way Jojo.”_

_\---_

“We practically had to drag Lizzie off of the slides.”

“Hey, you and Hope stayed on the climbing web for like the whole afternoon.”

Hope grinned.

“Except for when Josie fell off the swings and skinned her knee.”

Josie blushed. She remembered that too.

_\---_

_“Jojo!”_

_Josie had her eyes squeezed shut, because sometimes that made the pain feel less painful, but she still knew Penelope’s voice._

_She felt the other girl put her hand on her shoulder, and then seconds later, she heard her mother’s voice asking her to open her eyes._

_“It hurts!”_

_“I know baby, but open your eyes for me, okay?”_

_“I don’t want to look at it.”_

_“Look at me Jojo.”_

_Josie opened her eyes, and looked at Penelope. Penelope was right by her side, hovering as if unsure of what to do. She saw Hope and Lizzie running over, both of them looking worried, but she tried to just focus on Penelope._

_“I’m gonna wash it, and then we’ll put a bandaid on it. It’s not that bad, but it might sting a little.”_

_Josie nodded._

_“Penelope?”_

_“Yeah Jojo?”_

_“Can you hug me so it doesn’t hurt so much?”_

_Penelope looked a bit confused, but she obliged, wrapping her arms around Josie._

_Josie had been injured a few times before, but this one was definitely the easiest to get through._

_She barely felt the pain with Penelope’s arms around her to focus on._

_\---_

“Honestly, we should have known that you two were going to catch feelings from that day. Penelope didn’t leave your side until her mum practically dragged her away,” Lizzie commented.

Penelope scoffed. “Fuck Lynne, I was trying to comfort my friend.”

“She’s always been a bitch. But you know what?” Lizzie looked at Penelope.

“What?”

“You’ve got us. So who needs her?”

Penelope smiled and nodded.

“You’re right. You guys are all I need. Hope, you’re literally my best friend, Lizzie, even if you’re annoying as hell, I love having you in my corner, and Josie,” she paused, turning to look at Josie, “well, you’re my Josie.”

Josie blushed.

“I think we’ll make it. Whatever we have to do, I think we’ll make it.”

“Cheers to that,” Hope said with a grin.

“Fuck yeah,” Lizzie added with a nod.

Josie just smiled and watched her friends, glad that throughout everything, these had been the people in her corner.

And no matter what came tonight, she’d always have them to help her through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, some of you may have noticed that now we have a chapter count on this fic. That would be correct, we are five chapters away from the end! Not long to go now at all! As you might not know, I prewrite my chapters so that I always have five more chapters written then have been posted. This means that those last five chapters have already been written, and as such, that means that they will be getting released a bit quicker then they have been! So, buckle up and get excited for the last five chapters!  
> A snippet I can give you for the next chapter: someone surprising in the audience causes mixed responses from the cast...  
> Until next time, which will be within the next 3-4 days, stay hydrated, and stay vibing!


	41. Chapter 41

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Told you I'd be speedier with the update! We're back in Penelope's POV for this one, let's see what the beginning of closing night brings!  
> Enjoy!

Penelope was nervous. Which was weird, because it was her. She didn’t get nervous. 

Well, yeah, she did. But she was usually able to channel that nervous energy into her performance, and actually, those nerves were kind of fun. It was like a rollercoaster, and she knew that she’d be fine.

This was different. She was preparing to tell Josie that she loved her. 

That was huge. Sure, Penelope had told other people that she loved her, and she’d told Hope what her plan was, but still.

She knew, logically, she shouldn’t be nervous, but she couldn’t stop it. This was big for her; she was allowed to be nervous.

At least her coping mechanism for the nerves was theatre. That way she could vent all of her love into the performance, and no one would even notice.

Well, Josie might have noticed, but that was irrelevant. Josie was the one who needed to know.

So, in a way, it would be good if Josie knew. Maybe that would make the big moment easier.

Penelope knew she was being stupid. She had a play to get through first. Deal with that crisis, and then she could figure out what she was going to say to Josie.

She’d wanted to write it all out into a script, and then memorise it, but one thing that theatre had actually taught her, was that the most heartfelt moments were the ones that happened completely unscripted. That was what made it real.

Penelope would know what to say in the moment. 

But first, the play.

After spending some time in the playground, talking about their childhood memories, they had to head back to the school. The plan was pretty much the same as last night. Eat dinner, get dressed, do warmups, and then everything would be super chill and fine.

That was the plan.

Penelope should have known that the plan would go awry. 

Since when did plans ever work? 

Also, every time she thought that things would be fine, the chances were that they really wouldn’t be fine, so really, she should just stop hoping for the best.

Penelope was just finishing up her dinner as she tried to figure out the average amount of seconds that Landon stared at Ethan at a time. So far, it was around seven seconds.

Then Lizzie sprinted into the room. As far as Penelope remembered, she’d just headed out to her car because she’d forgotten one of her makeup palettes. That however, didn’t offer an explanation for why she looked like she’d seen a ghost.

Hope immediately stood, frowning at her girlfriend.

“What’s wrong Liz?”

Lizzie shook her head, looking like she was unable to form proper words. There were only a few of them in the room, just Hope, Penelope, Ethan, and Landon, as Josie had just left to go to the bathroom. The rest of them stood, all wearing similarly concerned expressions.

“Lizzie, seriously, what’s up?” Penelope didn’t like the look on her face. If Lizzie was nervous, then Penelope should definitely be nervous, and that absolutely did not help the feeling in her stomach.

“Okay, so I was walking back from my car, and then I saw Kol talking to someone, and I tried to get a closer look, because I thought he might finally be admitting to Davina that he likes her—”

“He hasn’t done that yet?”

“—but then I saw that it was this guy. And at first, I was confused, but then I realised he looked familiar.” Lizzie paused for breath. Penelope was so close to just shaking her until she started speaking, but she told herself that would be bad.

“Lizzie, who was he?” Hope frowned, reaching out to stroke her girlfriend’s arm.

“He’s the head of this performing arts school that is like about half an hour from here. They’re not like, the best school in the world, but they’re still pretty good.”

Penelope let the words sink in. Then she frowned.

“Why do you know that?”

Lizzie blushed. “I may have been looking into performing arts schools.”

“Okay, and why did you do that?”

“For Josie.”

Penelope blinked in surprise. Lizzie rolled her eyes.

“Calm down Park, you’re not the only one that can want better things for her.”

“Better things for who?”

They turned to see Josie, who was looking rather adorable and confused in the doorway.

“Okay, Jo, don’t freak out,” Lizzie started. This, very obviously, just made Josie frown.

“I feel like you’re about to tell me that you just killed someone.” When no one answered her, Josie’s expression turned horrified.

“Oh, please tell me you didn’t kill someone.”

“No, calm down, like I’d jeopardise your big night like that.”

Josie looked slightly less panicked at that.

“Thanks?”

“No problem, now, the real problem.” Lizzie looked like she was busy trying to figure out the best and most eloquent way for her to phrase her reveal. Penelope could see that Josie was getting more stressed with every second Lizzie delayed, so she decided to just blurt it out.

“The guy who’s in charge of a big drama school nearby is here and he was talking to Kol.”

Lizzie glared at Penelope. Penelope shrugged.

“Someone had to say it, and you were taking too long.”

“Rude.”

“Wait, hold on, what?”

They both turned back to look at Josie, who seemed to be unsure of whether she should be absolutely freaking out yet or not.

“How do you know who he is?” She looked between the two of them.

Lizzie blushed and looked down at her feet.

“I may have done some research on nearby drama schools because I wanted to see if there were any that might interest you.”

Josie frowned. “Why?”

“Because I see how much you love it on stage, and I think you deserve the opportunity to do that as much as possible.”

Josie smiled, as if she hadn’t been expecting such a feat from Lizzie. To be honest, neither had Penelope, but it was nice to see. Lizzie did love her sister, and it was so good to see that she was finally showing that. 

She had shown it before, but mostly by trying to keep Josie all to herself. 

But she had grown, and that was good. 

Penelope was glad for both of them.

Josie’s surprised smile slid off her face, and Penelope figured that she must have remembered why they were talking about this.

“Wait, so why is he here?”

“No idea. Maybe he heard about this play and he wanted to check out the talent.”

Penelope looked over at Hope, to see that she looked very thoughtful for someone who had stayed quiet for most of this interaction.

“Hope.”

Hope looked up, and when Penelope met her eyes, Penelope could see that she knew something they didn’t.

“What do you know?”

Hope shuffled her feet, sticking her hands into her pockets.

“I don’t know this for certain,” she began, but Penelope interrupted.

“Yeah, you do, now come on.” She shouldn’t be so sharp, but the stress from before, mixed with the stress from this new element was kind of messing with her.

She didn’t like unpredictable elements. Her plans relied on knowing all variables, and this made her feel like she was on a ship that had just sighted a storm heading their way.

“I think Kol may have invited her here because he wanted to give us a chance at getting scouted for the school.”

Penelope didn’t even allow herself a moment to process that before she asked her next question.

“And you know this how?”

“I may have…overheard a conversation between him and my dad. Apparently, my dad is friends with this guy, and Kol wanted to see if my dad could get him to come take a look at the play.”

“And this happened when?”

Hope looked at her feet.

“Last night.”

Everyone in the room immediately exclaimed, “Hope!” with varying levels of annoyance. Penelope kind of wanted to slap her best friend, but she decided it was best to focus on the moment at hand.

“Okay, so, who wants to find Kol, and confirm this?”

Lizzie and Josie both nodded. The boys nodded as well, but they didn’t look as emotionally invested. Josie kind of looked like she wanted to throw up, and Penelope made a mental note to check up on her before they started.

They ran into Kol halfway down a corridor, and he looked rather surprised to see all of them in a pack.

“Hello players, what’s the excitement for?”

Lizzie took the lead immediately, and everyone stepped back and let her talk.

“Is Stefan Salvatore, head of Salvatore’s School for Performing Arts currently waiting to sit in our audience?”

Kol’s mouth dropped open and his brow furrowed. They all waited.

He spluttered a little bit, obviously wondering if he could get away with a lie, but in the end, he just nodded.

“Yeah.”

“Were you going to tell us?” Lizzie put her hands on her hip. It was quite entertaining to see Kol, a grown man, looking intimidated by Lizzie.

“It was meant to be a surprise. It’s a big thing, I didn’t want any of you losing focus. But now I suppose you can treat it as extra motivation to do good.” He grinned at them, as if all was chill.

“So, why did you invite him?” Hope frowned up at her uncle.

“That’s easy. Because you’ve all been working so hard on this, and you deserve a chance to be recognised. You don’t have to accept an offer if it comes your way, and don’t just expect one, okay? It’s a rather hard place to get in, but I thought it might be good for someone with connections to see your performance so you can get some exposure to the performing arts world.”

Lizzie relaxed slightly. Penelope honestly didn’t know why she was so worked up about it, she wasn’t even going on. Most of the boys, and Hope, looked fairly calm about this. Maybe they weren’t bothered, or maybe they just didn’t think they’d get in.

Penelope turned to find Josie, to see how she was going, to find that Josie was gone. She moved her head around to look at the whole group, and found nothing. 

“Josie?” She looked back and forth, and the others with her looked as well. 

Josie was definitely gone.

“She must have run off somewhere.” Kol frowned. “I hope I haven’t worried her.”

Lizzie and Penelope exchanged a look.

He definitely had. 

Lizzie jerked her head, and Penelope took that as her cue.

She needed to find Josie.

+++

Penelope had a problem.

And that problem, was that she could not find Josie.

She’d checked the dressing rooms, and the bathrooms, and the music room, and Josie was nowhere to be found.

Penelope checked her watch.

It was currently seven-fifteen.

The show started at eight thirty, just like it had last night. 

They were supposed to be ready and in costumes for makeup and stuff by seven-thirty, but Penelope had a suspicion that they might be a little late for that.

The cast was going to kill them. The two leads, being late for everything, on closing night.

Josie, where the hell were you?

Penelope pulled out her phone and dialled Josie’s number, hoping desperately that Josie still had her phone on her.

It rang through, but that didn’t mean anything. Josie could just be ignoring her. To make sure, she called her again. She hoped that if Josie still had her phone, the second call might show her the severity of the situation.

Halfway through the second ring, Josie answered, and Penelope let out an audible sigh of relief. 

“Josie!”

“Hey Pen.” Josie’s voice sounded tired and slightly out of breath. She must have run all the way to wherever she was now.

“Where are you?”

“Can I lie?” Josie sounded so half-hearted, and Penelope hated it. 

“Josie, come on, it’s me. Just me. I want to know where you are so I can help you through this, okay?” She tried to speak as gently as possible to let Josie know that she wasn’t burdening Penelope.

Josie sighed.

“I’m at the park.”

Penelope blinked.

“How on earth did you get there so fast?”

“I really don’t know. I guess I’m quicker than I thought.”

“Do you want me to come and get you?”

Pause.

“No, I’ll come back.” Josie paused again, and Penelope waited.

“Can we meet outside? I kind of want to talk to just you.”

“Of course, I’ll meet you by the tree, where we used to sit in seventh grade?”

“Yeah, okay.”

The call ended, and Penelope quickly texted Hope, letting her know that she’d found Josie and she was going to talk to her. Hope texted back saying that she was going to try her best to stall. Penelope hoped that Lizzie would get in on that stalling, because she could definitely bring the whole theatre to a halt if need be.

Penelope headed outside, and waited on the bench where she’d talked to Maya a couple of weeks ago. It was strange sitting there in dark, with the only lights coming from a streetlight near the carpark, the handful of lights along the footpath, and the lights from the school windows. 

Their school should have more lighting. It was quite unsafe as it was currently.

Penelope looked off to the carpark, waiting for Josie to emerge.

It didn’t take long. Slowly, the brunette became visible under the street lamp, and then as she got closer, Penelope could make out individual details.

Her arms were wrapped around herself, possibly because of the cold, but more likely because that was what Josie did when she was stressed. She didn’t look up to see Penelope, she aimed her vision at a spot of ground just a few feet away.

Penelope watched her as she walked forwards, and without looking up, sat down next to Penelope. Both of them were now seated on the table, with their feet on the place where they were supposed to be sitting. It was Penelope always used to do when she was trying to annoy Josie, because Josie was a stickler for rules back in Middle School.

Now Josie sat with her. Penelope thought there was some meaning in that.

“So, you want to tell me what’s going on?” Penelope looked over at Josie.

Josie chewed her lip, but didn’t speak. At least, she didn’t speak yet. 

Penelope gave her time. They didn’t have much time, but what they did have, Penelope made sure to give it. 

Josie eventually sighed.

“Hearing that there was going to be someone in the audience with the power to change my life shook me.”

“You know you’re good enough, right? You could get in,” Penelope gently reassured her. Josie laughed, and nodded.

“Yeah, that’s what scared me.”

Penelope looked at her, confused, and waited for her to explain it properly.

Josie pulled at the edge of her shirt a couple of times, and then ran her hands down to her knees where she began to drum on them. She didn’t start speaking, and Penelope could see the gears in her head turning as she tried to put together the words for how she was feeling.

So, Penelope reached out and took one of Josie’s hands in her own. She didn’t say anything, but she knew that the touch would likely be enough to calm Josie down. 

Josie’s hands stopped moving, and her shoulders relaxed. She let out a deep breath, gave Penelope a thankful smile, and then started talking.

“I just suddenly realised that in that audience is someone who could literally change my life. If I’m good enough, they’ll ask me to go to their school, and I’d be stupid to say no. And once I’m in, everything changes. That’s what scared me. I don’t want things to change. I’ve just gotten back to a place where things are good, and now things might change, and it might not even get better. This new school might suck, and I might be miserable, and I could lose you, and all my friends and,” Josie took another deep breath and Penelope took this chance to move her free hand to rub Josie’s shoulder.

“Hey, it’s okay Jojo, just breathe. It’s alright.”

“How can you be so sure of that?”

Penelope smiled.

“Okay, let’s look at this realistically. Say you get into this school, and you decide to go. Awesome, now you have a chance to explore this thing that you’re super passionate about, to do this thing that makes you shine, this thing that finally makes everyone see how amazing you are. But, you’re right, it’s a big change, and change is hard, and it sucks. But Josie, I promise you, it won’t make you lose us.”

Josie shook her head. “I’d be at another school, and you’d slowly fall out of touch with me, and we’re going off to university anyways, which means that I’m going to lose you all anyway, and I’ve never thought of it like that. But this is the last time I’m going to perform with this team, and you guys are like a second family now, and I’m about to lose that, and I don’t want to lose everything.”

Penelope turned to face her fully.

“You’re really scared about losing us?”

Josie nodded.

Penelope laughed gently.

“Josie, you will never lose us. For one, Lizzie will literally not let that happen. She’ll drag you to every hang out, she’ll force you to talk to us. Second. we’re your friends because we like you, and because we enjoy your company. If you left, we’d want to keep in contact.”

Josie looked up.

“What about you?”

Penelope grinned.

“You can’t get rid of me that easily Jojo. I’ll text you every day, and I’ll basically break into your house to see you. I can do that Romeo and Juliet balcony climbing thing.”

“Please don’t, that stressed me out so much.”

“You loved it.”

Josie gave her a soft smile, and Penelope reached out to push some of her hair away from her face.

“You deserve this chance, you know that, right?”

Josie sighed.

“Do I?”

“Yes, because you’re an amazing singer, and an amazing actress, and everyone can see the way you glow when you’re on stage. You have been waiting for a chance like this for ages Josie, don’t let it slip away.”

Josie nodded slowly. “Okay.”

Penelope grinned, glad that she’d pulled Josie out of her head. 

“You solid now?”

Josie rolled her eyes. “You’re such a nerd.”

“But you love me?”

Josie smiled, and even in the bad lighting, Penelope could see her blush. God, she was so beautiful.

“Yeah I love you.”

Penelope stood, her heart rate quickening at the words, but no longer in a way that made her want to run and hide. She wanted to run, but only to Josie. All she wanted to do was come running back to Josie, because Josie was her home.

An idea suddenly occurred to her.

“Hey, do you have you your bracelet with you? The one I gave to you on opening night?”

Josie nodded, her eyes lighting up as she clearly had the same idea as Penelope.

“You want to wear them,” Penelope asked with a grin.

“Alyssa will kill us,” Josie said, but her smile held no fear.

“We’re too important, she’ll have to deal.” She looked down at her watch and winced.

“It’s seven thirty, we need to get back. We might have to speed run costumes so we can get ready for warmups in time.”

Josie swore quietly and stood as well.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have run off.”

“It’s fine, you needed to process, and you did it. Now, let’s get back before Lizzie skins us alive.” 

+++

Thankfully, the cast wasn’t too mad that they had left. Apparently, they had the preparation process down to a fine art, and they were way ahead of schedule. 

Lizzie hugged Josie, and also whacked her lightly on the head, which was to be expected from Lizzie to be fair.

Penelope didn’t get a hug, which was also fair, because she hadn’t really done anything to warrant a hug from Lizzie, but hey, hugs were nice, she could still wish for a hug, and tease Lizzie about it. 

Lizzie just rolled her eyes and told Penelope to go get ready.

When Penelope got dressed, she made sure to find that basketball necklace and pull it on. Anyone else might think it was dumb, but every time she looked at it or felt it, she thought of Josie.

And for this performance, that was what she needed.

It was funny. Penelope had been so focused on Josie that she’d forgotten that she herself could possibly interest the principal of the performing arts school. Penelope was good.

Would she take the opportunity? She didn’t even have to think about it. 

Yes. It was a chance that would be too good to pass up. Plus, if Josie pulled off the same calibre of performance that she had been recently, then maybe they could go together.

But she couldn’t think too much on that. She needed to be focused on the performance, not what would come after.

She touched the necklace again and smiled.

And Josie.

She would be focused on Josie.

“Hey lover girl, Kol wants us assembled for his big speech.” 

Penelope turned to look at Hope who was leaning in the doorway. She looked a little silly in her costume, with the big glasses, but really, that added to its vibe.

“Is your family here yet?” Penelope decided to ask as they headed down to where Kol was.

Hope sighed.

“I think they’re taking up an entire row. Because there’s my parents, Elijah, Cami, Rebekah and her boyfriend who she’s finally revealed to the family, Freya and Keelin, and baby Henry. So, yeah, they’re here, and you will not miss them.” She looked to Penelope.

“Is your dad here tonight?”

Penelope nodded, a nervous grin sneaking onto her face.

“Yeah, he’s been so excited all week. This has gotta be a good one.”

“You know it will be. The last one is always the best. You’ve got your dad there, plus my family is there for you as well, so you got a bunch of adoring fans to please.”

“You make me blush.”

Hope nudged Penelope with her shoulder, a smile of her own sneaking onto her face.

“Hey, so uh, I got a delivery of flowers from an anonymous source.”

Penelope looked at her, trying not to laugh.

“Oh yeah? And this anonymous source doesn’t happen to have blonde hair and blue eyes, now would she?”

Hope laughed. “Yeah, I’m trying to pretend that I don’t know it’s her, but her smile when I read the card gave it away.”

“What did the card say?”

“To Hope, my hero on and off the stage. I know you’ll slay this performance.” Hope grinned and bounced a little as she walked. “She also added a little drawing of a knife, you know, because, slaying?”

Penelope rolled her eyes. Her friend was such a sap.

“Oh, come on Pen, if Josie gave you something like that, you would be gushing too.”

Penelope had to admit that she was right. Her hand fell to the necklace again. Hope’s eyes followed her hand movement, and she laughed.

“Josie gave you that, didn’t she?”

“Shut up.”

“It’s cute. And it proves my point. Is Alyssa going to let you wear that?”

“It’s fine, I think she actually thinks Josie and I are kinda cute together.”

Hope nodded thoughtfully. “That’s true. Surely she’ll let it slide.”

“Surely.”

The two of them entered the room, where everyone else was gathered. Kol gave them a glance and shook his head with a laugh.

“Come on girls, it’s time for the final prep speech.”

Hope and Penelope fit into the circle next to Kol, across from Josie and Lizzie.

Josie made eye contact with Penelope, and let the smallest smile flit across her face.

The bracelet wrapped around her wrist, and Penelope pulled her necklace just the slightest bit forward so that Josie could see. When Josie’s smile grew, Penelope knew she’d noticed.

She looked away from Josie, and tried to tune into what Kol was saying, but the nerves in her body someone made it all blur together. It was probably what he’d been saying this whole time.

You’ve got this. You know your shit. Go out there and make yourselves proud. 

I’m proud of you.

I believe in you.

She vaguely heard Kol asking them to take each other’s hands and to close their eyes, so they could just feel the silent connection through the group, so she followed that instruction.

Even if she did open her eyes to take a peek at Josie a few times.

She couldn’t help it. Josie just made such an adorable face when she was focused. 

They all dropped their hands, Kol headed off, and then it hit Penelope.

They were about five minutes away from the final show of this musical.

How was it that she was already missing it?

It was funny how that worked.

“You ready?”

Penelope turned to look at Josie, who was bouncing lightly on her toes. 

“Ready as I’ll ever be. You ready to show everyone just how much of a shining star you are?”

Josie grinned. “So ready.” She held out her hand and Penelope took it. Josie lifted Penelope’s hands to her lips and kissed it gently.

Penelope rose an eyebrow.

“What was that?”

“A kiss for luck. Not that you’ll need it.”

“Well, in that case.” Penelope leant forwards and kissed Josie on the cheek, flashing her a grin as she moved back. Josie’s cheeks went an even deeper red, but her smile was so full of joy that Penelope could feel her own heart being captured by the emotion.

“I’ll see you on the stage superstar,” Josie said, smiling brighter than any light on that stage would.

“See you there, my leading lady.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, are we all excited for Penelope and Josie to ace closing night? I know I am!  
> Now, as for the hint about the next chapter, let me just say that I seem to have a thing about Chapter 42! If you've read my other super long fic, that may mean something to you! I will also say that I'm very excited for you guys to read it!  
> Until then, which again, will be like 3-4 days, make sure that all you guys are treating people (and of course, yourself) with kindness!


	42. Chapter 42

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! To all the Posie's who still care about Legacies, after that trailer which lacked Josie content and any gay content at all, here is a chapter that I think will make things better! And to those who just care about Posie, yeah, you'll love this! I'm very excited about sharing this chapter with you guys! Without further ado, Chapter 42.  
> Enjoy!!

Josie was pretty sure that she was invincible right now. If someone walked on stage and tried to stab her, it felt like the blade would just shatter instead.

It almost felt like she was glowing, like the whole audience could clearly see the elation that was running through her whole body. And maybe they could. Maybe in her smile, in every lyric and note they could hear how much she was shining.

She didn’t try to find her parents, or Hope’s family, or the guy from the performing arts school. That was never a good idea in theatre, and it could throw her off her game. She just had to let the faces blur under the lights, and truly become Gabriella.

She didn’t want to be dramatic, but it definitely felt like this was the best performance she’d done for this show. It might even be her best performance ever.

At least Penelope’s nerves were gone. There was no hesitation, just flawless acting. Josie tried not to think about it, but if the performing arts school wanted anyone on that stage, they’d want Penelope and Josie, because they were fucking amazing.

One thing that she was always aware of was her bracelet. She made it a part of her scenes that whenever she talked about or thought about Troy, she’d touch the bracelet. It did sort of work, because she associated the bracelet with Penelope, and also it just felt right.

There were some things that you did on stage that didn’t seem to matter much, but they just felt like they completed the scene. This was one of them.

Penelope couldn’t play with her necklace as easily, but Josie did see her touch it a few times, as if to ground herself. 

When they came offstage at intermission, Alyssa glared at both of them, and told them that they were very lucky she was feeling charitable, or their jewellery would be ripped off of them in seconds.

Josie knew that was just Alyssa’s way of saying ‘it’s cute, but I’m not allowed to tell you that, so I’m just going to be grumpy’. Under her bitchy exterior, Josie was sure that Alyssa was actually quite a good person. 

Maybe.

They went on for the second act, and again, everything was nearly perfect. Josie knew that there was no such thing as a perfect run, that somewhere, someone fumbled a line, or was late on a cue, but for her, she could not pick out a single mistake.

Singing Breaking Free with Penelope was magical. Josie felt like every word was true. Her and Penelope were breaking free of everything that had ever weighed them down, there was nothing but them, nothing but the lights of the stage, almost burning hotter than the emotion in Josie’s chest.

Her and Penelope waited behind the wings as the bows continued on the stage. It seemed like the night had both passed in a blink, and lasted for eternity. 

Penelope turned to her with a grin and held out her hand. 

“Final bows. You ready for it to end?”

“Never.”

“Don’t worry, just think of this ending as a new beginning. The start of something new if you will.” Penelope tilted her head to the side, grinning like she thought she was the funniest person alive.

Josie didn’t have time to comeback at her for that awful pun, because it was their turn for bows. She gripped Penelope’s hand and pulled them both onto stage, not even having to force the smile as they burst into view.

How could she not smile, when the entire hall was cheering for her? 

She looked into the lights, finally letting herself search for her mothers. When she found them, she took a moment to take in properly how proud they looked.

Penelope and Josie gripped each other’s hands tight, and then swept into a bow. The cheering rose to an even louder level. Josie could just tell that she was going to have a headache after this.

And it would be so totally worth it.

Penelope stepped back, clapping for Josie. Josie stepped forwards and smiled, before doing her own bow. She could faintly hear her mothers cheering, and she was pretty sure that she could hear Landon from the tech booth. 

All these people were here, cheering for her, because they thought that she had done a good job. 

Not just a good job.

A great job.

Unconsciously, her eyes searched for the performing arts school director.

They found him standing, clapping along with the audience, a smile on his face. Josie thought he looked almost impressed, and her heart leapt.

She stepped back to clap for Penelope, and for a moment, allowed herself to truly take in how golden Penelope looked right now.

Under the bright lights of the stage, arms open as if she wanted to bundle up every bit of adoration and hold them forever, smile clear, even if Josie couldn’t see her face, Penelope looked like a heavenly figure. 

This moment would forever be in her mind. 

Standing on this stage with Penelope, both of them freed by the applause of the audience, even after everything they’d been through, still standing tall.

It was everything.

Kol rushed onto stage, and lifted a microphone to his lips. The cast clustered around him, grinning widely, excited for what he had to say.

“Ladies and Gentlemen of the audience, this has been the final show of this production of High School Musical! It has been a wonderous journey for us, and I know that I am so proud of these kids for achieving this. Can I get one last round of applause for these absolutely wonderful actors?”

Josie was pretty sure that she was going to have permanent ear damage, because wow, they were so loud. 

Everyone in the cast was jumping up and down, laughing, looking like they had just won every lottery in the world. That was the euphoria of theatre, and it ran through their veins like a drug.

Josie heard a pop, and when she looked up, confetti was showering from the ceiling. She laughed out of shock, and found Landon in the tech booth, grinning and giving them a thumbs up. 

She turned to her side, and found herself crushed in a hug that seemed to grow bigger every minute. While she was unsure who had originally hugged her, it was clear that now the whole cast was there, gripping each other tightly as they jumped up and down, red and white confetti showering down on them.

Josie didn’t know how long that hug lasted, but when it ended, she was left with Hope and Penelope standing by her side, both of them looking like they could barely hold their smiles back from breaking their faces in two.

“We fucking did it!” Hope punched the air. Josie laughed. Hope didn’t often swear, so when she did, you knew it was a momentous occasion.

“Yeah we did!” Penelope wrapped an arm around both of their necks and pulled them into another hug. Josie and Hope didn’t even hesitate, they moved straight into hugging back.

Josie wasn’t sure when they started laughing, but suddenly they were all wheezing for breath, eyes glistening with tears of joy.

“Hope!” 

They turned to see Lizzie sprinting onto the stage. Lizzie ran straight at Hope and moved into kissing her. Hope seemed startled, but she wasted no time in kissing back.

Penelope and Josie gave each other a look.

“Your sister really abandoned you for her girlfriend.”

“I know, I don’t think I’ll ever get over this betrayal.”

“Shut up Josie,” Lizzie told her, moving away from Hope, who was now sporting a lovesick smile, to wrap Josie in her arms and hug her.

Josie grinned into Lizzie’s shoulders.

“They loved us.”

“Of fucking course, they did! You were amazing!”

“I have to agree.”

They all turned to see Caroline and Jo standing at the bottom of the stage. A little way off, the Mikaelson’s were talking to Kol, all looking very proud. 

The four girls jumped off the stage, and the twins were immediately gripped in a group hug by their mothers.

“Hope, Penelope, come on and join us, we’re proud of you too.”

Josie felt another two bodies join the hug and she smiled. 

Vaguely, she wondered when Penelope had last heard a mother figure say that they were proud of her.

She heard a shout come from the Mikaelson’s, and knew that the four of them would be congratulated by literally every member of that family. They pulled away, and walked over. Kol had disappeared, probably to give the family some time to congratulate the girls.

After getting possibly a million hugs from the Mikaelson’s, even little baby Henry, Josie turned around to see Penelope hugging her father. 

She smiled. Penelope looked so comfortable, so relaxed, and Josie was glad that her father had been here to see her like this. 

The two separated, and Penelope’s father looked over at Josie. He beckoned to her, and Josie walked over.

“Josie, wow, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you on a stage, and let me say, that’s a tragedy because you’re amazing! I knew you would be, but wow, you truly blew me away there, kid. I bet your mums are very proud of their daughter.” He looked at Penelope with a fond smile.

“I know I’m proud of mine.”

Penelope blushed and rolled her eyes, but Josie could see just how much those words meant to her.

“Thank you, Mr Park,” Josie told him.

“Come on Josie, you know it’s Richard to you.”

“And you know I never call you that.” She smiled, remembering the many times they’d had this exact interaction.

He laughed, “Don’t worry, one day, you’ll be worn down.” He patted Penelope’s shoulder.

“I suppose I’d better let you go change and everything, hey?”

“Yeah, I think there’s gonna be an afterparty type of thing at McDonald’s like we always do,” Penelope told him. Josie noticed that she was tapping her fingers against her sides, and she kept shifting her weight.

Penelope was nervous again.

“Of course, well, let me know if you want me to drive you, and if not, just tell me pick up time, because I am not letting you walk home alone when it is this dark and cold outside, okay?”

Penelope nodded, and her dad walked off. 

Josie looked at Penelope and smiled.

“He’s proud of you Penelope.”

“You have no idea how good it feels to hear that from him.”

Josie smiled. “You deserve it.”

Penelope looked at Josie.

“Yeah, I do.” 

For a moment, Josie thought she might say something else, but then she just jerked her head to the side.

“Come on, we need to get undressed and ready for the afterparty. Hope told me that Kol is buying.”

“That Mikaelson wealth is the gift the never stops giving.”

“It really is.”

+++

It felt like Josie was leaving Gabriella for the last time. She had to admit, it was weird.

Gabriella had almost become a part of her in these past weeks. She’d had her own moments and heartbreaks that had seemed to almost draw her closer to the girl. 

Josie decided that she wasn’t leaving Gabriella behind. She would still be there; she’d just be a bit smaller. A bit less noticeable.

She wondered if every character she played would find their way into her heart.

As she got undressed, Josie tried not to think about the performing arts school. 

And she tried not to think about Penelope and her promise.

Because both of those topics would lead to copious amounts of overthinking, and Josie did not need to do that now. 

She needed to take off her makeup, and head out to Hope’s car, so that she could drive them to McDonald’s, so they could have a proper cast party, and annoy all the other patrons of the fast-food restaurant. 

Yes, that was a brilliant plan.

There was a knock at her door, and Josie spun around. Penelope was leaning in the doorway, grinning.

So much for not thinking about Penelope. Although, Josie didn’t mind. Any second spent with Penelope was worth some overthinking.

“Hey leading lady. You almost ready?”

Josie chuckled. “Just need to get the last of the makeup of my face, and then I need to gather all my stuff into my bag.”

Penelope nodded, and pushed off the doorway, walking into the room.

“Want me to help? I can start putting the non-makeup stuff away?”

Josie nodded, smiling thankfully.

“Yes, that would be super helpful actually.”

“What can I say, I aim to please?” Penelope winked as she spoke, and Josie tried her best not to even react.

Even if she wanted to explode into a puddle of feelings from just Penelope’s presence.

If their hands brushed, Josie might just start crying or hyperventilating.

Maybe both.

Wow, her emotions were running very high right now.

Penelope laughed gently, and Josie tried her best not to look over.

“We’ve come pretty far, haven’t we?”

Josie nodded, trying to keep her mouth shut. Why was she freaking out so much right now?

Oh right, because Penelope had promised that she was going to ask Josie out on a date, and she’d promised that she was going to change the things that needed changing.

She hadn’t specified, but Josie knew that they both understood what Penelope needed to say.

So, yeah, Josie was freaking out a little. Because if Penelope didn’t say anything before the end of the night, that was a promise broken.

Josie didn’t want to deal with any eventuality which wasn’t the one where her and Penelope were together.

“Josie?”

Josie looked over at Penelope, who was frowning.

“What?”

“Are you okay? You just went all silent then.”

Josie laughed, hoping that it sounded natural.

“Yeah you know me, just lost in thought.” She laughed again, and it definitely sounded more forced the second time around.

Penelope drummed one hand on the table.

“You done with makeup?”

Josie hummed and started shoving stuff into her bag.

“Is there a reason why you came to get me? You could have just gone to Hope’s car.” Did that sound like she was pushing Penelope away? She hoped not, because really she just wanted to know if now was the moment she had not prepared for at all.

Penelope laughed, and Josie could definitely hear nerves in it.

“Uh, well, I kinda wanted to congratulate you alone, you know, without everyone there. I just wanted a moment to tell you how special you were out there. If that performing arts dude doesn’t see that, he’s dead wrong.” Penelope grinned.

Josie smiled.

“Thanks Penelope.”

“You don’t need to thank me, it’s the truth.”

Josie nodded, and waited, just a little longer. Penelope shifted on her feet, swallowing a few times.

“Uh, Josie, I um,” she looked down at her feet.

“Yeah?”

“I think…I kinda,” she shrugged, “you know?”

Josie did not know, but those words sounded somewhat familiar. She couldn’t figure out where from, so she just stared at Penelope blankly.

“I don’t know, sorry.”

Penelope bounced on her feet and bit her lip. Josie decided that maybe whatever this was that Penelope needed to say, she needed more time to figure out, and she just nodded, turning towards the door.

She had only made two steps away when Penelope's voice called out and stopped Josie in her tracks.

“I love you!”

Josie spun around immediately, half in disbelief that Penelope had just said what Josie thought she had just said, the other half so fun of adrenaline because holy shit.

Penelope looked a little bit like she had shocked herself by blurting it out, and Josie almost wanted to ask if Penelope had really meant it.

But then Penelope pulled herself up a little taller, and Josie could see a determination in her eyes that only came out in moments where Penelope was so sure of something that she’d do anything.

And Josie knew that she meant it.

“I’ve loved you since the first time you picked up your ukulele, and you wrote a song about fire.” She laughed, shaking her head. “Just a silly little song about fire. I’ve loved you since I met you, and you insisted on calling me Pen, and you never made fun of me for not being able to speak properly. I’ve loved you since you held my hand to make me feel better, because you knew I didn’t like hugs.

“Josie, I have loved you since the Mikaelson’s took us all to Rousseau’s, and you ordered a strawberry milkshake, and you let me drink some of it, because my mum forbade me from getting one. I loved you when you told me you had a crush on Hope, even if I couldn’t figure out why it made me feel upset.” Penelope rolled her eyes, probably still a little self-conscious about her jealous actions.

“I loved you when you were nothing but my best friend, and I loved you on the day I kissed you for the first time. God, I remember how nervous I was, because you were so important to me, and I was so scared that I was going to mess it up. I loved you for every moment I dated you, even if I didn’t know it, even if I was too much of a coward to admit it to myself.” She sighed and stepped forwards.

Josie didn’t even know what was going through her mind right now. All she could register was the way her whole body felt like it was vibrating, and the way that she was physically holding herself back from kissing Penelope on the spot. 

But she needed to let Penelope finish. Penelope needed that.

And so did Josie, because her heart was losing it right now. 

“That night in your room when you told me that you loved me, I should have said it back, I should have, and I have kicked myself every day since then for not saying it, but it’s true, I love you.” Penelope’s eyes lit up.

“Do you remember that excursion Six Flags? Where you didn’t want to go on that big rollercoaster, but I just laughed and told you ‘Relax Jojo, live a little’. And then, I was the one who threw up, and I did it all over your nice white converse. Do you even remember what you told me?”

Josie did. She remembered that day so well, because she remembered smiling so hard that her cheeks had started to hurt, and she remembered adrenaline rushing through her veins. 

It had been a day to remember.

“I told you that it was fine, because they were too small for me anyway.”

Penelope grinned and nodded.

“Yeah, because you outgrew them. But Josie? I never outgrew you. It’s always been you, from the first time I saw you, through every piece of heartbreak, I have never wanted a future that didn’t have you in it. I don’t know what will happen in a year. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, but I just want you here with me today. That’s all I’ve ever wanted, and I’m finally ready to do what it takes to show you just how much you mean to me. That is of course, if you still want me?” Penelope looked at her, a little nervous, a little bit breathless, but still perfect in Josie’s eyes.

Instead of answering the question, Josie just stepped towards Penelope.

“You know in musicals how sometimes they don’t know how to say something, so they just burst into song?”

Penelope’s brows furrowed, but she nodded.

Josie shrugged.

“I personally think that sometimes it’s easier to just kiss.”

Penelope’s eyes lit up, but she didn’t have time to say anything, because Josie was pulling her forwards.

When their lips met, Josie truly felt like the final piece of the puzzle that had been her life recently had just fallen into place. 

Penelope was home.

She’d always been home.

Josie had loved her since she’d walked in, unable to say Josie’s full name, always so nervous and at the same time charming.

Josie had loved her as a dorky teenager, always trying to be everything at once. 

Josie had loved her when they’d dated, when she’d thought they were perfect.

Josie had loved her, even when she’d wanted so badly to hate her.

Josie loved her now, when she was standing here, in Josie’s arms, finally back to her.

The few kisses they’d shared between the breakup had been good, of course they would be good, it was them, but this blew them all out of the water. 

They were both here.

Both free of any pretence. 

Finally, back where they belonged.

Penelope was the first one to break the kiss. She rested her forehead against Josie’s, her smile as bright as the sun.

“I love you too Penelope. So much, I love you so much I think sometimes my heart isn’t big enough to carry all of it.”

Penelope reached out and entwined their hands.

“I can carry some of it for you, if you’d like.”

Josie blushed.

“You and I, carrying each other’s love for each other?”

“Sounds poetic, doesn’t it?”

“You’re too charming sometimes.”

“Why do you think you fell in love with me?”

Josie couldn’t hold herself back anymore, she leant in again to kiss Penelope. Penelope reached up to cup her cheek again, her other arm snaking around Josie’s waist to pull her closer.

It felt like they weren’t close enough, even if their bodies were flush against each other. 

She searched for that closeness in Penelope’s mouth, in her taste, and she seemed to find it.

Penelope pulled back again, and Josie almost wanted to groan in frustration.

“Okay, okay, as much as I absolutely love kissing you, we have an afterparty to get to. I’m sure Hope and Lizzie are blowing up our phones right now," Penelope said with a laugh.

“Don’t lie to yourself, they’re probably making out right now.”

Penelope laughed, and then paused to just stare at Josie’s eyes, seeming to get lost in them.

“I love you so much Penelope Park,” Josie found herself saying.

“I think you just told me that. In fact, I think you’ve been the one saying that all this time. I’m sorry it took so long for me to get to the same page as you.”

“I love you, so I would have waited. Because I’ve loved you all those years as well. I’ve loved you on the dark days, on the days when it seemed like you just wanted to crumble into nothing. I’ve loved you on the angry days, the days when you just wanted to lash out, and do nothing but hurt and be hurt.” Josie reached up to cup Penelope’s face, letting her thumb brush over Penelope’s lips.

“But I’ve loved you on the good days, the bright days, the days when you’re so full of love and life that it seems that there could never be bad. I will always come back to you, because you’re my home. You’re the one that makes me safe, the one that has always seen a person inside of me that I never even knew could exist. I will gladly be yours, for as long as you want me by your side.”

“I want you by my side until the world stops spinning. And if it does, I don’t want to find comfort in anyone else’s arms." Penelope said it like she truly believed that she would want Josie for that long. And Josie believed it with her, because she too felt that emotion in her heart.

Even if they ended, long before the world did, that emotion would have still burned the mark of a lifetime into both of their hearts.

Josie smiled.

“Then you will have me, until the world’s end, and then some.”

She leaned in to kiss Penelope, but Penelope stopped her with a finger.

Penelope grinned. “As romantic and literally amazing as that was, I still need to ask you something.”

Josie furrowed her brow. It might just be her love frazzled brain, but she could not for the life of her remember what it was that Penelope was referring to.

Penelope cleared her throat, straightened her back, and took a step back. She seemed to be trying her best to keep a straight face, but a smile kept breaking through, like sunshine through the clouds.

“Josette Lucas Forbes-Laughlin, would you do the honour of going on a date with me, Penelope Rose Park?” Penelope grinned, and Josie didn’t see a hint of uncertainty in her smile.

Of course, the date. Penelope had promised that she was going to ask Josie out.

Josie tried her best to feign scepticism.

“I don’t know Miss Park, what would this date include?”

Penelope, who of course saw right through Josie, played along.

“Well, Miss Forbes-Laughlin, I think I’d walk to your door to pick you up. As I have a license, but no car, I will get a friend to lend me a car for the night. Then I will drive you into town, we’ll get dinner, we can go to that place that makes the pasta that you love. We’ll talk, just like we always do, and it won’t be dumb small talk, because you hate that, so we’ll just be us. Then I’ll take us to get ice cream, and you will get vanilla, like you always do, and I’ll get coffee, and you’ll make fun of me. We can go walk through the park, and I’ll do something nice and romantic, because I’m just that charming. I’ll drive you home, I’ll walk you to the door, and if I’m lucky, you might get a goodnight kiss.”

Penelope gave Josie a little smile, as if she wanted Josie to try and find a flaw in that plan. Josie could not. It sounded perfect. 

So, she just nodded enthusiastically.

Penelope laughed. “Well, that’s good to hear.” She held out her hand.

“Before then though, we need to go to our cast party, and hear all the compliments from our cast members. We can see how long it takes them to figure out that we’re back together.”

Josie rolled her eyes, but in reality, that sounded pretty fun to her. It would probably take Landon two weeks to connect the dots if no one told him.

Josie took Penelope's hand, knowing that nothing could tear them apart in this moment.

“Shall we?”

Penelope nodded.

“We shall.”

And so, they headed out of the dressing room, hand in hand, ready for whatever the world threw at them.

Because once more, it was Josie and Penelope. 

Just like it was supposed to be.

Just like it had been since they were kids.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! I AM THE WRITER AND IM FREAKING OUT THEY FINALLY KISSED AND SAID I LOVE YOU! I REALLY HOPE YOU GUYS LIKED THIS CHAPTER BECAUSE LOWKEY, THIS IS HALF THE REASON WHY I WROTE THE FIC IN THE FIRST PLACE! Okay, I am calm. But seriously, I really hope this lives up to all of your expectations! If you liked it, please leave a comment telling me your favourite part! Now, as you know, we still have three chapters left, and they are literally all just Posie fluff, so be excited for that!  
> The next chapter will pretty much just carry on from where this left off! Also, side note that is in no way relevant to this fic, can Taylor Swift stop releasing albums that make me have fic ideas, because at this point, I have like a million other story ideas!  
> Until next time, remember that you are loved, and that there are always good things on their way to you!


	43. Chapter 43

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all, sorry that this is later than I said it would be, a combination of being busy, being tired, and not having WiFi lead to this being a few days later than I wanted it to be! But, it is here now, so it's time for everyone just being adorable and happy, which I think we all need in our lives! Also, this fic hit 1000 kudos! That's super awesome, thank you guys so much!  
> Enjoy!

Josie couldn’t stop smiling.

Why should she even try?

She was holding hands with Penelope, the girl who might actually be the love of her life (yeah she was only seventeen but Josie couldn’t picture a future without Penelope), and she’d just performed in front of so many people, who had all loved her.

She’d honestly nearly forgotten about that part of the night. About the shining lights and the cheers. But who could blame her? She was allowed to be a lovesick teenager, that was the whole point.

Penelope was also being so adorable right now. Josie got to see so many sides of Penelope that other people didn’t get to see, which was truly a privilege, and this side might have to be one of her favourites.

Not many people got to see Penelope being soft, and looking at Josie with such a goofy smile, brushing their fingertips together, just so she could touch Josie. No one else got to hear that soft bubbly laugh, and Penelope didn’t look at anyone else like they were all that would ever matter in the world.

They were only walking out to Hope’s car, but somehow, it felt special. Josie kept wanting to pull Penelope over to her, and to kiss her softly and sweetly. 

She almost wanted to tell Penelope to ditch the cast party, so they could run away, and just spend time together. Just the two of them against the world.

“You look so pretty when you’re lost in thought,” Penelope commented, taking Josie’s hand fully and swinging it back and forth.

Josie giggled, like she was still the little kid who was afraid of heights, the little kid who saw a pair of green eyes and somehow understood what the word forever meant.

“I’m just thinking about us.”

“Oh yeah? I love hearing about us, us is my favourite topic.”

“Untrue, your favourite topic is poetry.”

Penelope nodded thoughtfully.

“True. I guess I’ll just have to combine the two by reading you some more poetry.”

“Any chance you’ll write any?”

Penelope laughed. “Only if I feel sufficiently inspired by my muse.” She flicked a wink at Josie, who just smiled.

She couldn’t do anything but smile. 

It felt like she was full of bubbles. Her insides were buzzing. Tonight, might actually be one of the best nights of her life.

Or at least, it would be one of those nights that would stay with her.

Penelope pushed open the door, and they stepped out into the fresh night air. Josie was glad that she’d remembered to bring a jumper, because wow, it was a cold night.

Penelope grinned, and Josie watched as she breathed out, the exhale fogging the air.

“I’d forgotten how much you love to do that. Back in junior school, every single morning I’d find you on the grass, just breathing as hard as you could.”

“I think it looks cool,” Penelope defended. 

“It does look cool, but Penelope, you get obsessed with it. I still remember you trying to pretend that you were smoking when it happened, so you could try and look cool.”

“I was fourteen, we all make mistakes.”

“I don’t know, I think the current you would still do that.”

Penelope opened her mouth to retort back, when a voice called across the car park.

“Girls! There you are!”

They both looked up to see Kol standing under a streetlight, with another figure standing near him. At first, Josie thought it might be Davina, but when she looked closer, she realised that it was the performing arts guy.

Oh. 

Yeah, that.

Well, now Josie was feeling that stressed out feeling back in her bones.

“Come over here, there’s someone I want you to talk to.”

Josie nodded and took the first step over, squeezing Penelope’s hand as she did so.

Penelope squeezed back, then let Josie’s hand go. Together they walked over to the pair.

Kol grinned at them cheerfully and then waved a hand in the direction of the other man.

“Girls, this is Stefan Salvatore. He’s the head of the Salvatore School for Performing Arts. I invited him to come, because he’s a friend of the family.”

Stefan nodded, smiling lightly.

“Kol told me that there was going to be a performance here tonight, and that I just had to see it. Told me that there was some incredible talent on show.” He looked at them with something akin to approval in his eyes.

“I have to say he was right. You two were fantastic. The energy that you brought to the show was really something special. You don’t find that often.”

Josie blushed and smiled.

“Thank you, Mr Salvatore.”

He smiled and shook his head. “Please, just call me Stefan.”

Josie just nodded. Penelope interjected.

“So, you liked the musical?” She sounded fairly put together, but Josie could still hear the shake under her words. She wanted to retake Penelope’s hand, but she thought that might be a little bit weird considering the conversation.

Stefan nodded.

“I did indeed. Some great stuff all around. But you two stood out to me. And that’s why I’d like to offer the both of you spots at my school.”

Josie nearly forgot how to breathe.

“It’s not something you have to do, I understand that changing schools is a big commitment, but this could be a great opportunity for you girls, I’d really like to help you flourish. Kol’s given me your emails, I’ll send you a PDF with some basic info about enrolment, and what it’d all be like.” He gave them what was supposed to be a calming smile, but Josie’s heart was going too fast for it to work.

Penelope was the first to speak. “When would we be starting?”

“You’d be starting at the beginning of next year, which might be a little hard to adjust to, but I really feel that there’s no time like the present for this type of thing. You have until the end of November to accept the offer officially.” He clapped his hands.

“Would you girls be interested in this?”

Josie didn’t even have to think about it. Sure, her current school was good, and she loved her friends, but this was a chance to pursue her dreams. Maybe even with Penelope by her side.

“I’d definitely be interested.”

Penelope nodded. “Me too, this is an incredible offer Mr Sa—Stefan.”

He smiled widely at them both.

“That’s excellent. I’ll send you the emails, you can speak with your parents about this, and then if you choose to enrol, we can do a tour of the school sometime mid-December. Sound good?”

They both nodded. Josie was pretty sure that she’d reached her quota of words that she could say.

“Excellent.” He looked down at his watch. 

“Well, I’d better get going. It’s been a good night out, but I need to get home. I hope I’ll be seeing you girls in December.” And with that, he walked off into the night.

The two girls turned to look at Kol, who winked at them.

“The wonders of being a Mikaelson, we’ve got some brilliant connections. I do hope you’ll be seriously considering that offer. I’ll be sad to see you leaving this school, but I’ll be happier that you’re getting the opportunities that you both deserve. You’ve come a long way. I’ll be seeing you at the afterparty.”

He patted them both on the shoulders and then walked off.

Josie and Penelope both turned to face each other, both unsure of what to say. 

Had that just happened? Had Stefan Salvatore just offered them positions at his school?

Holy shit.

Holy shit! 

Josie almost wanted to just evaporate on the spot. That was it, she could just die happy now. 

The only thing that was keeping her sane right now, was the small smile creeping onto Penelope’s lips.

“Josie. Did he just say what I think he said?”

Josie nodded.

“I think he did.”

“Holy fuck.”

Josie giggled, her head still spinning.

“Is this happening? Are we sure we didn’t fall asleep right before the play? Because there’s no way I get to be this happy right now,” Penelope said, looking down at her hands as if they might disappear.

Josie reached out and took one of her hands.

“It’s real. We’re real.”

Penelope looked down at their joined hands with wonder. Josie wanted to kiss her again.

Wait, she actually could kiss her. 

Wow. Josie was going to have to get used to the fact that she didn’t have to hold herself back from kissing Penelope anymore.

So, she leaned in and kissed Penelope. 

She felt Penelope smile against her lips, and then pull her a little closer to deepen the kiss.

Josie pulled back once she felt truly grounded, and was about to say something incredibly cheesy, probably, when she heard someone yell out,

“Holy shit they did it!”

Penelope and Josie both snapped their heads over to look at the opening to the school, where Hope and Lizzie were standing, still holding hands, but with wide eyes and open mouths.

Well, so much for pretending that they weren’t together.

“Please, for the love of all that is good in this world, please tell me that I just saw that,” Lizzie exclaimed, looking between the two girls and Hope.

Josie nodded, shrugging.

“Yeah you saw that.”

Lizzie shrieked at the top of her lungs, like someone had just told her that Friday’s were officially part of the weekend, and then sprinted at Josie, nearly knocking her over with the force of a hug.

“Woah,” Josie mumbled, trying not to get suffocated.

“I am so proud of you, you dumb pansexual idiot!”

“Thanks?”

Lizzie didn’t pull back, she just kept crushing Josie as she rambled on.

“I’m so glad Park finally womaned up and told you that she loved you, because seriously, if she didn’t, I was fully ready to beat her into a pulp, and I did not want to deal with bloodstains on my clothes.”

“Lizzie, y—”

“Josie, this is amazing news. Now, you and Penelope can go on double dates with me and Hope, and we won’t have to deal with your annoying pining bullshit all the time.”

“Lizzie, I really—”

“I’m gonna need all the details, I—”

“Lizzie, darling?”

Lizzie swivelled her head to look at Hope.

“Yes, dear?”

“You’re choking Josie.”

Lizzie jumped back, seemingly just realising that she had been two seconds away from caving in one of Josie’s lungs.

Josie gasped, relieved to feel that none of her organs had been permanently dented.

Penelope walked over and put a hand on Josie’s back.

“You alright, love?”

God, Josie loved Penelope’s pet names.

“Yep, I'm just peachy.”

“Liz, darling, next time maybe just hug Josie like a normal person.”

“Hope, I was expressing my excitement that Park had finally—” Lizzie’s eyes lit up and she turned to face Penelope, whose smile dropped very quickly, turning into a nervous grin.

“Park.”

“Elizabeth.”

Lizzie walked up to Penelope, until she was basically standing on top of her. Josie and Hope watched, waiting for Lizzie to say something.

Penelope and Lizzie stared at each other for a moment, then Lizzie nodded and turned around.

“She’s good.”

“What the hell just happened?”

“I was evaluating her. She didn’t freak out.” Lizzie looked at Josie. “She’s good now.”

Josie nodded, still a little confused.

“Uh, thanks?”

“No problem, it’s my duties as your twin.” She clapped her hands and bounced on her toes.

“Alright, we need to get to the party, so, everyone in Hope’s car.”

Hope turned to look at Penelope and Josie.

“If you make out in my car, you’re dead.”

“Right, because your car can only be made out in by you and Lizzie,” Penelope retorted.

Lizzie nodded, looping her arm through Hope’s.

“Exactly. Now, come along children. We have a McDonald’s to attend.”

+++

The McDonald’s was very loud. All the theatre kids had packed themselves into the booths, and were already talking at the top of their lungs. Josie was pretty sure that within the first ten seconds of her being in there, she’d already heard someone singing a song from the musical.

The other patrons of the McDonald’s seemed to have gotten the message that this wasn’t going to stop anytime soon, because the only other people in their besides them were an old man reading a book in a corner booth, a university aged girl with her headphones in, and a man and a woman with toddlers. 

The employees were definitely about to have a rough night. Josie felt a bit sorry for them. Hopefully, they were getting paid well.

Although, this was McDonald’s. It was probably barely minimum wage.

Josie shook her head. This was too much thinking for a Sunday night. Especially when there were so many other things that she could be thinking about.

Like Penelope, who had just slipped her hand into Josie’s and squeezed it. 

Even that small movement made Josie feel warm.

Penelope was hers again. Truly hers.

Although, Josie would have to check if they were officially girlfriends again, just so it was a solid label and not a hazy ‘we’re in love’ type of thing.

Penelope would probably agree to being girlfriends though. She’d always loved being able to call Josie her girlfriend; she’d abused that privileged almost every day, which annoyed all of their friends, but Josie knew they secretly thought it was cute. 

Now that Lizzie was in a relationship, maybe she would spend less time annoying Penelope and Josie about theirs. Plus, she had promised to be supportive, and her and Penelope were actually friends now.

This time would be better.

Josie had no doubt about that.

MG waved them over to a booth. The one he was sitting in was packed with Kaleb, Maya, Kym, Rafael, and Alyssa, but then one next to them was empty, so the four of them slid in.

“Landon and Ethan are still on their way,” Maya explained, “So, they’ll just join your booth.”

“You can be the gross couple’s booth,” Kaleb told them with a grin.

Penelope laughed. “You’re just sad that you’re single.”

“I’ll have you know that I’m happy all by myself.”

“Okay then keep your sarcastic comments to yourself Hawkins.”

Maya leant back in her seat.

“You know what’s interesting to me?”

Alyssa turned to Maya with a sly grin on her face, one that told Josie that Alyssa had definitely already connected the dots about Penelope and Josie’s new relationship.

“What’s interesting to you Maya?”

“That neither Penelope or Josie did their weird little avoiding of being referring to as a couple.”

The whole booth turned to look at Penelope and Josie, as if to figure out the truth.

Penelope looked at Josie with a smile.

“You want to tell them?”

Josie smiled shyly at the booth. 

“Penelope and I are officially back together.”

Josie didn’t think it was possible, but the volume in the room rose to a level higher than that of the crowd during bows.

MG, Rafael, and Kaleb started whooping and clapping their hands, while Alyssa, Kym, and Maya just sighed in relief.

“Oh my god, I thought those idiots would never get it together,” Alyssa lamented.

“Tell me about it, I have had to coach them through so much mess,” Maya replied with a roll of her eyes.

“Hey, we’re right here.” Penelope rolled her eyes, wrapping an arm around Josie’s shoulders.

Maya leaned forwards.

“So, it’s official? Girlfriends again?”

Josie hesitated, unsure of how to respond, but Penelope didn’t hesitate.

“Yep, girlfriends again.” Penelope smiled, and Josie felt her heart relax at those words.

Maybe Penelope had liked calling Josie her girlfriend so much because of how much Josie had liked it.

Josie looked away as Penelope and Kaleb engaged in another verbal battle, and made eye contact with Jade, standing with Wendy and some of the other Year 12’s.

Jade’s eyes fell to the arm around Josie’s shoulder, and seemed to immediately understand what it meant. Her eyes lifted back to Josie’s, and she nodded, almost imperceptibly, and gave Josie a smile, a genuine one.

Josie smiled and nodded back.

Penelope tugged Josie down into the booth, and that was the end of that little nonverbal interaction.

Penelope’s arm didn’t move from where it lay, and she leant forwards to whisper in Josie’s ear.

“It’s okay that I called you my girlfriend, right?”

Josie smiled. “Better than okay.” She reassured Penelope with a kiss. However, she didn’t get to kiss her for long, because a sugar packet hit her in the cheek.

“Stop being gross and talk to your friends,” Hope complained. 

Josie rolled her eyes, but turned to engage in conversation. 

There would be plenty of time to kiss Penelope later.

+++

Once everyone was gathered, and once everyone had food in front of them, Kol stood on top of a chair, and blew into a whistle to get everyone’s attention.

It was very loud, which was fair, because anything else would not have gotten their attention. 

Every head turned to him immediately. Josie saw Davina, who was sitting on a chair next to him, fighting a smile.

“Good evening players, I hope you are having a splendid time. I would first like to congratulate you all, because, you did it!”

A cheer rose from all of them. Josie found herself joining in, because well, it was a cause for celebration.

He beamed at them and continued.

“That’s right, all that hard work, all those rehearsals, all those nerves, they paid off. And I could not be prouder of all of you. You’ve come so far from when I first met you.” His smile slipped from celebratory into something more nostalgic.

“If someone had told me, after those auditions, how amazing this show would be, you know what, I would have believed them. I would have believed them because inside of each you was a bright glimmer of potential. And I knew that if cultivated right, you could all bloom into something brilliant. Bloom you did, and now I stand here, proud that I got to be the one to witness it.”

He paused for a moment, and Josie could swear that she saw tears shining in his eyes.

“I nearly lost my chance, because I was foolish, and I tried to be too much. But you fought for me, and I can never be thankful enough for that. Without your fire, and your care, and your talent, this show would not be what it is. So, I would like to thank each and every one of you; you’re all stars, and I truly hope this is not the last time our paths cross.” 

He lifted his milkshake into the air.

“A toast to the cast of High School Musical!”

“Cheers!” A shout rang through the McDonald’s and everyone scrambled to find something to toast with. Josie still had some of her milkshake left, but she saw Landon taking a bite from a chicken nugget as a toast, and had to stop herself from snorting.

“He’s proud of us,” Penelope said, with just a hint of wonder. 

“Of course, he is. We freaking smashed that shit,” Lizzie said. Hope grinned.

“Hell yeah we did.”

Josie looked over at Penelope.

“Are you proud of us?”

Penelope didn’t even hesitate. 

“So proud. I never would have dreamed that it would turn out like this. But I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Not a single moment.” She lifted Josie hand to her lips, and kissed her knuckles, as if to somehow prove her point.

Josie had to agree. There had been many ups and downs, but without them, they wouldn’t be standing here as strong as they were. 

So, Josie was incredibly thankful for every tear, every crack in her heart, and every sleepless night. 

+++

That night, Hope and Penelope had somehow wrangled it that they would get to sleep over at Josie and Lizzie’s.

Josie honestly didn’t know how they’d done it.

Well, Hope probably just asked and every single Mikaelson had screamed yes, and Penelope’s dad was in a very agreeable mood, but Josie just didn’t understand how her mothers had agreed to it.

Caroline and Jo were very firm on their girls getting enough sleep, and having Hope and Penelope over was not going to help that. But somehow, they’d agreed.

Josie had just decided to not look a gift horse in the mouth.

They were going to make Penelope and Hope share the spare bed, but judging by the wink Penelope had thrown her, Josie didn’t think that particular rule was going to be abided by.

Which Josie had to say, she was very happy about. She always managed to have the best sleep when Penelope was with her.

The four girls spent nearly an hour babbling on about the musical as they sat on Lizzie’s bed.

Josie was almost half asleep, with her head in Penelope’s lap, but she was able to push away the tiredness to keep talking.

Josie and Penelope broke the news to their friends about their acceptance to the school in a very hushed tone. Hope, thankfully, was quick enough to cover Lizzie’s mouth before she screamed so loud that the neighbours would be convinced a murder was taking place.

Then Hope turned to them and silently screamed. And of course, it ended in a huge hug pile, which, after it had ended, they didn’t feel much like leaving, so they just lay in a pile, talking.

“It’ll be weird not having you two at school next year.”

“We might not take it.”

“Oh no Josette, you two are taking it. There is no way you’re giving it up," Lizzie told her firmly.

“I was trying to be thoughtful about your feelings.”

“Screw my feelings, this is massive.”

Josie smiled into Penelope’s shoulder.

“You’ll have to tell us everything. Also, we’re not letting you guys drift away. Like, you may make a bunch of cool new friends at this school, but you are not forgetting us.”

“Don’t worry H, we’re not gonna forget you two. We’re not gonna forget any of you, but especially not you. We’ve been together since we were kids, we’d have to receive head trauma to forget," Penelope said with a roll of her eyes.

“I don’t know, head trauma could always be around the corner.”

“Yeah, for your clumsy ass maybe.”

“I am not clumsy!”

Josie heard a thump, and Penelope grunted, so she assumed that Hope had just hit her.

“Asshole,” Penelope mumbled, and Josie pressed a kiss into her shoulder.

There was a moment of silence, where Josie really allowed herself to think about this opportunity.

Her mums were going to flip. 

It would be a massive change, and maybe Josie was terrified of change, but maybe this was what she needed. Maybe a new start would be just the key to the rest of her life that she’d been looking for.

But of course, she wouldn’t be leaving everything behind. She’d have her friends, and she’d still be living in the same house, with the same twin sister.

And she’d have Penelope. 

That somehow seemed to be the most important part.

The silence was broken by Hope somehow managing to yawn for about ten seconds.

“Is Hopey sleepy,” Penelope teased.

“Shut up Park, not all of us have a fucked-up sleep schedule,” Hope mumbled.

Lizzie sat up, pulling Hope with her.

“Alright, I think it’s time for us to go to sleep. We’re gonna be zombies tomorrow anyways, but some sleep would be good. Any longer, and it’ll be one in the morning. So, Penelope and Jo, out of my room.”

Penelope rose an eyebrow as she sat up.

“I thought Hope and I were sharing the guest room.”

Lizzie snorted.

“First, our mums are already asleep, and they’re not gonna check on you. Second, you want to sleep with Josie, don’t lie to yourself.”

“Hmm, I do want to sleep with Josie, but I have a feeling we’d be a little too loud for your parents.”

Lizzie stared at Penelope for a moment, before a look of comprehension and disgust crawled onto her face.

“Ew, that’s my sister you pervert.”

“And my girlfriend.” Penelope turned to Josie with a grin, and Josie tried to deflect with a frown, but Penelope’s smile was just a touch too infectious.

“Ugh, get out of my room. And no fucking! I don’t want to hear that.”

“Same for you two.” Penelope hopped out of the bed and offered her hand to Josie. Josie took it with a smile.

After brushing their teeth and getting into pyjamas, the two of them settled in Josie’s bed.

At least now they didn’t even have to bother with the awkward ‘should they cuddle, or was that too intimate’ moment.

Penelope just immediately wrapped her arm around Josie’s waist, and Josie huddled her head into Penelope’s neck.

“I’ve missed holding you,” Penelope whispered into the dark.

“I’ve missed being held by you. You always did manage to be incredibly comforting.”

“It’s one of my best skills.”

“That is true. It’s almost one of the top three things I like about you.”

Penelope chuckled.

“Well, now I’m curious. Do tell Jojo, what’s the top three?”

Josie had to think for a moment. There was so much to love.

“I love your mind, the way you think. You think it’s a mess, I think it’s beautiful. I think the way you can always figure out how to handle a situation, and how you can always find the right words is beautiful.”

“It doesn’t feel like that a lot.”

“Well, then I’ll just have to show it to you. Second would definitely be how charming you are. Everyone loves you, it’s amazing to see. You just draw admiration to you with ease, and watching you on stage is mesmerising, even for me. It was your charm that made me catch feelings at first, how could I not?”

“I am quite charming, I’m glad you’ve noticed.”

Josie shoved against Penelope’s chest, but when they were pressed together, it really didn’t do much.

“Come on Jojo, number three, I want to hear it.”

“Technically this is number one.”

“Then I’m extra excited.”

Josie chewed at her lip, trying to find the exact words for it.

“I love the way you make me the best version of me. You’ve always seen this person in me, this amazing person, and I’ve just always wanted to be her. You inspire me to be at my best. You make me smile at the person in the mirror, because I know that I am the person that you see. It’s amazing. I wouldn’t have gone on that stage if not for you.”

Penelope shifted, and Josie could tell that she was just trying to get a better look at Josie, even in the dim lighting of Josie’s pink nightlight in the corner.

“You give me too much credit. You became that girl all on your own.”

“But you were the first person to see it, you were the first person to believe in me. And that’s what made me love you.”

“I believe in you Josie, I always have. The fire inside of you could light up the darkest of souls. That’s what I’ve always loved about you.”

Josie reached out in the dark, and found Penelope’s hand. She wasted no time before entwining them.

They lay there, touching in so many places, and Josie felt warm in every part of her. Not uncomfortably so, but the warm of your home after a cold day. 

Home.

She was home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I absolutely love writing soft and in love Posie! It's just so fun to do!  
> The next chapter will be out, sometime in the future, probably less than a week away. I don't want to promise anything specific because I have a lot of family visiting to do, and I will be both busy and exhausted, so there's no way to know when I'll be free to post. Just know, that it will come out, and when it does, it'll be a Christmas chapter!  
> Until next time, remember that sometimes rest is what you need to feel better and that it's okay to not be perfect all the time!


	44. Chapter 44

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I told you that this chapter would be out sometime in the near future! It's time for some Christmas fluff, to get you ready for Christmas in a few days! Also, if there are any errors, just know that it's like 1am where I am right now, and I am way too tired to be awake!   
> Enjoy!

Christmas had always been a guilty pleasure of Penelope’s. 

She didn’t really remember much of Christmas’ when she was growing up. There were a few pictures, here and there, but nothing that pulled up a memory.

The first Christmas she actually remembered was when she was seven years old. This was because it was the first Mikaelson Christmas that she experienced. She hadn’t gone to the one previously, because her mother hadn’t wanted Penelope to be away from family.

Penelope had a suspicion that it was due to her father’s insistence only that she got to be with the Mikaelson’s that year. 

Josie and Lizzie were there too of course. They’d been having Mikaelson Christmas’ since they were four. Penelope was just happy that she got to experience Christmas with her friends.

She remembered not much else from beside that, but there was one key thing that had stuck with her, and that was Josie’s present.

Josie had recently gotten into arts and craft, and she’d promised Penelope that she was going to make her a gift. Penelope remembered being very excited.

Josie’s present was a bracelet, with purple string, because that was Penelope’s favourite colour, and little silver beads, along with a heart charm, and a P charm. 

Josie told her that it was a friendship bracelet, because Penelope was her best friend. She’d then shown Penelope her own bracelet, with yellow string, and a little J charm.

Penelope had worn her bracelet until it had broken, and then she’d taken it home, and kept it a box for special things, along with the coins with cool pictures on them, and her favourite McDonalds toys. 

Hey, she was seven, she was allowed to do dumb stuff like that.

Now, that box had more significant special stuff in it, like ticket stubs from concerts and plays, and Polaroid photos of her and Josie from last year, but it still had that bracelet. 

Sometimes Penelope would take it out, and she’d think about simpler times, when she didn’t know what love meant, but, unbeknownst to her, she knew what it felt like.

So much had changed since then, but at least there was one constant, one that she knew now, she could always depend on.

Josie.

It had been over a month since closing night of the musical.

Over a month since Josie and Penelope had kissed and made up.

Over a month since they’d both been given an offer that had previously been nothing more than a dream.

And after some discussing with their parents, it had become the offer that they’d taken.

Penelope smiled at herself in the mirror as she thought about the tour they’d taken last week. Stefan had led them around the school, and they’d seen the theatres, and the green rooms, and all the resources they had available. 

This place had the funding, and it did not waste it.

Penelope didn’t think she’d ever been so excited to go back to school in her life.

But first, Christmas. 

As had become the norm, Penelope was going to the Mikaelson’s for Christmas lunch. 

Usually, there would be an awkward gift exchange at the Park house, where all members had to pretend to like each other.

As neither her nor her father had heard anything from Lynn in months, there would be none of that. Instead, her father would be accompanying her to the Mikaelson Christmas.

Usually, her parents just dropped her off and then picked her up when she was ready to go, but this time her dad said that he wanted to meet the Mikaelson family.

Penelope had a suspicion that he wanted to meet the people who had been there for his daughter when he hadn’t been able to. Plus, this was his way of being more involved in her life. It was nice.

Penelope was just putting on the last of her makeup when her phone buzzed.

She looked down and smiled as she saw who it was.

**Jojo (My Amazing Girlfriend😊): are you ready yet?**

**Jojo (My Amazing Girlfriend😊): I miss your beautiful face**

**Penelope: you saw my beautiful face yesterday**

**Jojo (My Amazing Girlfriend😊): and i still miss it, so please hurry**

**Penelope: don’t worry darling, i’ll be there soon enough**

**Jojo (My Amazing Girlfriend😊): do i get a kiss?**

**Penelope: of course you get a kiss**

Penelope put her phone down, and added the final touch to her mascara.

Perfect.

Her dad’s voice sounded from downstairs.

“Pen, come on, I’m sure you look gorgeous, but we gotta get going!”

“Coming dad!” Penelope gathered up her things and put them in her bag. Her dad already had the presents in the back of the car, so that they didn’t have to worry about packing those last minute.

She skittered down the stairs, to find her dad picking up the pillows on the couch, as if searching for something.

“Dad?”

“Have you seen the car keys?”

Penelope rolled her eyes.

“On the kitchen counter.”

He raced into the kitchen, and reappeared, dangling the keys between his fingers.

“What would I do without you Penny?”

“Be late to the Christmas lunch, now come on.”

He chuckled and followed her out to the car.

“You want to drive us?”

Penelope perked up.

“Really?”

“Yeah sure. Just don’t crash, don’t play Christmas music, and your phone has to go in the glovebox.”

“Okay,” Penelope agreed. Her dad didn’t often let her use the car, as he didn’t want any damage coming to it. She was a good driver, but he was still firm about her only using it for important occasions.

One such occasion had been the first, well, first date for this second try at her and Josie’s relationship. Penelope had been planning to annoy Hope into getting her to loan her car, but when her dad had offered to let Penelope take his car, Penelope had jumped at the opportunity.

Not borrowing Hope’s car was good, as it meant that her and Josie could make out in it a little before Penelope dropped her off, without Penelope feeling weird about doing it in the same car where Hope and Lizzie had probably done the same.

She climbed into the driver’s seat, and waited for her dad to get in before she started it up.

Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas started blaring through the speakers and her dad groaned.

“Penny, what did I just say?”

“Sorry, I was just listening to that. You have my phone, change it.”

He frowned down at her phone.

“What’s your password?”

Penelope tried to contain her blush.

“Um, its 150303.”

Her dad paused after he typed it in.

“Why that number?”

“Uh, well, it’s sort of…” she trailed off, pulling the car out into the road.

“It’s sort of what?”

“…Josie’s birthday.”

Her father laughed, the sound making Penelope’s cheeks glow even more red.

“It’s not that funny.”

“Oh Penelope, you lovesick teenager.”

“Hey, it’s been my password ever since I got the phone. And hers is mine,” Penelope argued.

“You two never cease to amuse me. She really does bring a smile into your heart.”

Penelope smiled as she turned a corner.

“She really does.”

+++

The moment Penelope entered the Mikaelson household, she was wrapped in a hug.

To be fair, it was Keelin, and she loved Penelope, so it was probably to be expected.

“Oh, come in, come in you two. Penelope, the other girls are in the basement, and Richard, is it?” 

Penelope’s dad nodded. Keelin smiled.

“Well, you come in, I’ll introduce you to the rest of the family, and let me tell you, there’s a lot, it took me a long time to figure out everyone’s names.” Keelin led Penelope’s dad towards the courtyard, and Penelope headed for the basement.

When she entered, none of the girls noticed, so Penelope could have a moment to just watch them.

Hope was basically sitting in Lizzie’s lap, letting Lizzie play with her hair, both of them wearing dopey grins. As always, they were sharing the sofa.

Josie was on her beanbag, looking down at her phone. Penelope peaked over her shoulder and saw that she was writing a text to Penelope.

Penelope pulled out her own phone and waited for the message to send. 

**Jojo (My Amazing Girlfriend😊): where are you baby?**

“Right here darling,” Penelope answered, grinning as all three girls jumped. Josie immediately pushed herself off of the floor, and pulled Penelope into a kiss, one which Penelope very happily sank into.

Josie kept smiling, so they had to break the kiss, and Penelope rested her forehead against Josie’s.

“I missed you,” Josie whispered.

“I missed you too.” Penelope stood on her tiptoes so that she could kiss Josie on the tip of her nose. Josie blushed. 

Penelope noticed that there was not an awful lot of fake vomiting coming from where Hope and Lizzie were sitting. When she turned her head, she saw why.

Hope and Lizzie had also started kissing, and considering that Hope was literally in Lizzie’s lap, it could definitely be defined as making out.

“Hey, horny teenagers on the couch over there, could you stop?”

Lizzie moved her head away from Hope’s lip to glare at Penelope.

“You were defiling my sister; I get to defile my Hope.”

Penelope rolled her eyes.

“Your Hope?” Hope looked absolutely lovestruck at those words. Lizzie really did make her melt, even if Penelope seriously could not find the appeal in Lizzie.

“Yeah, you’re mine.”

Unsurprisingly, the two of them leaned into another kiss. This time it was Josie who interrupted them.

“Do we want to maybe save the making out until later when the grownups are all drunk and we’re in our own separate rooms? Preferably far enough away from each other that we cannot hear?”

Penelope winced slightly as she thought about the time when both couples had decided to hang out at Josie and Lizzie’s house when their mums were out, that one time. They’d had to blast music very loudly, just so they could pretend that they were not hearing the noises coming from the other room.

“Okay, that was one time, and honestly, I don’t know why you’re pretending to have the moral high ground here. Remember that we’ve both seen far too much of you guys.”

Lizzie did have a point there. Although, that had been an accident, and really, who could have predicted that Lizzie was going to open Josie’s door without any warning? 

“How about we all stop arguing and enjoy the Christmas spirit instead?” Hope smiled at them all brightly.

Penelope decided that she was right. Banter with Lizzie was fun, but today was a day of celebrating friendships, not ruining it.

“Who wants to play Mario Kart while we wait for lunch?”

+++

Penelope was surprised that Lizzie hadn’t torn her face off yet, especially after coming in second place three times in a row.

She suspected that the only reason she hadn’t was that Hope was holding her down, and Josie was willing to act as a body shield.

Her girlfriend and best friend were so nice.

“Park, I swear you’re cheating.”

“How on earth do you cheat at Mario Kart?”

“It’s possible, you asshole.”

“Calm down Lizzie, maybe if you were just simply good at this game, you’d be able to beat me.” Penelope smirked as Hope literally pushed Lizzie’s arms back to the couch.

“Darling, please don’t kill Penelope before lunch.”

“But she’s being a dick.”

“It’s Penelope, what did you expect?”

“Shut up Mikaelson,” Penelope grumbled. Her mood was brightened by Josie turning to plant a kiss on her cheek.

“What was that for?”

“You’re really cute when you get competitive.”

“Ah so that’s why you always stared at me when I was destroying people’s stupid opinions in English.”

“You get very into it, and it’s very attractive.”

“I will remember that. Maybe next time your parents are out, we should play Monopoly, and see if it turns you on when I absolutely destroy you.”

“Okay, let me rephrase, I find it cute when you’re competitive against others. When it’s against me, you know I’ll get all pouty.”

Penelope grinned. 

“Is that why you keep refusing Lizzie’s offer to play?”

Josie blushed.

“You know I suck at this game.”

“That’s okay, you’re good at a lot of other things.”

“Oh yeah? Like what?”

“Someone’s fishing for compliments.”

Josie tilted her head to give Penelope a pointed stare.

“Yeah, and as my girlfriend, you’re gonna give them to me, right?”

Penelope leant forwards and kissed her forehead.

“Have I mentioned how pretty you look today?”

It was true. Josie was wearing a white jumper with a little red Christmas wreath embroidered on it, and a red and white striped skirt, which Penelope had taken to calling her ‘candy cane skirt’. She looked very pretty, and Penelope had to make it known.

“Well, you’ve told me now.”

“You’re so beautiful Jojo. All I want for Christmas is you.”

Josie groaned and pushed Penelope away.

“Please no, my mums have been singing that song all month.”

“That shows exceptional taste, Mariah Carey is flawless.”

“Are you talking about that godawful song,” Lizzie asked from across the room. 

“It’s not godawful, it’s a Christmas classic," Penelope defended.

“Aren’t you like super pretentious about your music taste?”

“Only slightly, it’s Landon who’s the real annoyance when it comes to that.”

Lizzie paused, and then nodded.

“True, the muppet is annoying.”

Penelope rolled her eyes.

“Please tell me you’re not still jealous about Landon asking Hope out that one time.”

“What? No, why on earth would I still be jealous?” Lizzie’s face went slightly pink, and Hope reached out to rub a soothing hand against her arm.

“You don’t need to be jealous, he literally has a boyfriend, and I have you.”

Lizzie softened somewhat at that.

“You’re right. Besides, I am a far superior being to Landon Kirby.”

Everyone in the room decided to just nod and move on after that remark.

Penelope handed the controller to Josie.

“Here you go.”

Josie frowned.

“But I suck.”

Penelope craned her neck to look at Lizzie, who seemed to have read her mind, because she handed her controller to Hope.

“Hope sucks too, you can go up against each other.”

Hope pouted, but she didn’t deny it. They all knew it was true.

Penelope busied herself with moving so that she could wrap her arms around Josie’s waist as Josie played. She knew that they’d probably be interrupted by the adults calling them up to lunch, but she didn’t care.

Every second cuddling with Josie was important.

Josie moved backwards, leaning into Penelope.

The game started, and both Penelope and Lizzie tried not to laugh when Hope and Josie drove off the track at the same time.

+++

They did get interrupted, but Hope and Josie weren’t too bothered, so they quit the game and headed upstairs.

When it came to the Mikaelson Christmas, they would exchange presents first, and then have lunch, which would always have considerable amounts of leftovers.

Considering how many of them there were, they usually just put out all the presents, and then had a free-for-all. The Mikaelson’s had also decided that they’d just give their guests one present from the whole family, rather than each member giving a gift.

They’d tried that one year, and Penelope was pretty sure that the Forbes-Laughlin’s had needed to take two car trips to get everything back to their house.

There were still so many presents lying out when they got upstairs.

Klaus stepped forwards and grinned at them all.

“Well, as we are all gathered, I will have the considerable honour of starting our gift unwrapping. Merry Christmas everyone, I hope it truly is a wonderful day.” He smiled at them, and then clapped his hands.

Everyone moved to find a present with their name on it.

Penelope first found one that was from Hope. If it didn’t have her name on it, Penelope would’ve been able to tell anyway, because of how messy her handwriting was. 

When she tore it apart, she smiled; her friend always managed to come up with something thoughtful. 

It was a purple leather notebook, with a rather nice pen to go with. There was a card attached to the front, and Penelope opened it.

_Dear PP (you knew it was coming)_

_It’s been one hell of a year. But, you’re here, I’m here, we made it, and that’s pretty cool. I got you this, because I know you struggle a lot with saying your feelings out loud, and I thought maybe you could write them instead. Plus, I know that song writing is more Josie’s thing, but you have ideas, maybe put them somewhere. Anyways, I love you, you’re basically the sister I never had, and while I’m gonna miss you so much next year, I know that you’re never gonna leave me._

_Love from Hope (the coolest person you know)._

Penelope looked up from her card to where Hope was examining a necklace that Rebekah had gotten her.

“Hope!”

Hope looked up, saw the notebook and smiled.

“You like it?”

“Of course, I like it. And I love you too, idiot.”

“I know.”

Penelope grinned and turned back to the gifts.

The next two she opened were the ones from the Mikaelson family, and the one from her dad. The Mikaelson’s always went out for their gifts, and this time was no exception.  
They’d gotten her a collection of Shakespeare’s plays, but they were all very fancy, and with illustrations and analysis of the plays. She examined them with awe.

“Hope told us that you are ‘a huge nerd’, and that you’d probably like some fancy books, so, we asked Josie for help, and she mentioned that you’d probably like these,” Hayley explained. “Klaus has a dramatic streak, and Kol knows his Shakespeare, so they knew the best ones to get.”

“I really don’t know what to say, this is almost too much.” Seriously, Penelope was almost scared to find out how much these had cost.

It was times like these that Penelope never knew what to say. The Mikaelson’s had taken her in, almost like she was actually part of their family. There had been so many nights when she’d slept over, just because she couldn’t deal with home.

She’d actually came out to Hayley before her own parents, just so she’d known that there’d be a place she could go if things went badly. 

Her father was going to be in the picture again, and he was going to do his best to do right by her, but she couldn’t forget the people who’d helped her through all her years of growing up.

She tried to thank them for the present, but they all just brushed it off, telling her that it didn’t matter, that she was part of the family, and that it was the least they could do. After all these years, she knew better than to try to get them to accept her thanks, so she just moved on to her father’s gift.

It was bigger than his presents usually were, and she looked at him with confusion.

He just smiled at her. Penelope looked around for her present for him, and then handed it to him.

“Let’s open each other’s presents at the same time.”

He smiled and nodded. They both tore at the wrapping paper, excited to find whatever was underneath.

There were two things inside of Penelope’s wrapping paper, and she examined them both with a soft smile. The first was a small card, within lay a $50 bill. The card read

_To Penny_

_I hope this will help you soar._

Penelope opened the second present, the big box that she’d been confused by. When she finally got it open, she looked at her dad with astonishment.

“You got me a new guitar?”

He nodded.

“I know you’re fond of your old one, but you’ve had that since you were twelve. It’s time for something new. I hope you like it.”

It wasn’t any shabby second-hand guitar, this was a brand new one, with shiny strings and polished wood. She gave it a strum and marvelled at the beautiful sound that echoed out.

Everyone else looked over and Josie moved to Penelope’s side to admire it as well.

“Wow Pen, that looks amazing.”

She smiled.

“My dad got it for me.” She looked over at him, not even trying to hide the tears of joy in her eyes. 

“Do you like it?”

Penelope laughed. “Are you kidding?” She put the guitar down and walked over to him, wrapping him up in a hug.

“I love it.”

After she’d spent some time admiring her new guitar, and thinking about how fun it was going to be playing around with it over the holidays, she moved onto the second last present left.

Lizzie’s.

She opened the card first and chuckled as she read.

_To Satan (okay, fine, Penelope)_

_Last Christmas, I think Josie bullied me into buying you something, and I would like it to be known that this time, I did this all of my own volition. Despite you being annoying as hell, and the fact that I’ve kind of hated you for most of my life, I have come to the decision that we’re now officially friends. It’s in writing now, you’re welcome. All I have to say is, please don’t be a dick, and if you break Josie’s heart again, I will actually tear yours out, you know I’ll find a way._

_Merry Christmas!_

_From Lizzie_

Penelope rolled her eyes and opened the present. 

There was a bottle of her perfume, the brand that Lizzie always groaned about Penelope wearing, because it was ‘too strong Park, do you have any consideration for the noses of other people?’

Penelope was definitely going to bring up this present if Lizzie ever complained about it again. 

Along with the perfume, there was a purple jumper that looked very comfortable.

“I figured that even ice witches get cold. I asked Josie for your favourite colour by the way,” Lizzie piped up from where she was, letting Hope put a necklace around her neck.

Penelope grinned.

“Thanks Lizzie, have you opened mine yet?”

Lizzie nodded.

“I’m assuming you asked Josie which makeup palettes I didn’t have yet?”

“Yeah, it took a while because while I love her, she knows nothing about makeup.”

“Hey!”

Penelope turned to Josie, who was pouting at the two of them.

“It’s okay Jojo, we all know that you don’t need makeup to be beautiful.”

Lizzie made a gagging noise, but Penelope just focused on Josie’s shy smile.

Josie moved to sit next to Penelope, resting her head on Penelope’s shoulder.

“Have you opened mine yet?”

“Nope, I was saving that for last.”

Josie giggled. “Same.”

“Should we open them together?”

Josie nodded and picked out the two presents they had yet to open. It seemed that both of them had a card attached, and if Josie’s was anything like Penelope’s, they were both very long cards.

Penelope opened the card and immediately knew that she was probably about to cry.

_Dear Pen_

_This time last year, we’d just started dating a few months ago, and I really didn’t think I was ever going to be happier in my life. But right now, I think I’m definitely way happier. It’s been a hard year, and the time spent away from you was like hell. If you’ll let me, I’m going to quote Taylor Swift now. “Hell was the journey, but it brought me heaven.” It certainly feels like heaven when I’m with you. We’ve both learnt and grown so much; I definitely wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t been with me every step of the way. We walked this journey together, and now we get to be together. And maybe this next year will be even harder, but I promise, no matter what, I will do my best to make sure that I can be by your side, and that I can help you through any hardships that there may be. I’ll end this simply. Merry Christmas Pen I hope all your wishes come true. I love you._

_Love, Jojo_

Penelope looked up at Josie, her eyes glistening, as she tried to find the words to express how she was feeling. Josie wasn’t looking at her, she was tracing her fingers over the words Penelope had written in her card.

A tear fell and Josie wiped it away, looking up at Penelope, smiling when she realised that they were both crying.

“Did you seriously just call me the love of your life, and say that I’m your home?”

Penelope chuckled.

“What can I say, I’m a romantic.”

Josie started unwrapping her present. Penelope laid hers to the side for the moment so she could watch Josie’s reaction. 

She pulled out the small box, and the hoodie, looking up at Penelope for guidance on which one to examine further first.

Penelope picked up the hoodie. It was one of her own, a black one she’d gotten a few years back, with white strips running down the arms. 

“Did you accidentally put one of your hoodies in my present,” Josie asked with a confused laugh.

Penelope grinned.

“No, this is your hoodie now.” When she saw Josie’s confusion, she explained further.

“I remember you always wanting to wear this one when it got cold, and you once told me that you liked wearing my stuff because it smells like me. So, I sprayed my perfume on this, and I slept in it a few times, and now you can have it, to remind me of you.”

Josie moved to hug Penelope the moment that she’d finished speaking, and Penelope smiled into Josie’s shoulder.

“I’m guessing you like it?”

“I love it. Do you promise that if it stops smelling like you, you’ll redo it?”

“Of course, Jojo, now, open the other present, because I actually spent money on that one.”

Josie eagerly opened the small box, revealing a necklace with a silver guitar pick on it. The guitar pick simply said ‘Jojo’. 

“You keep playing with my necklace when we cuddle, so, now you have your own. And I know you like playing with guitar picks, so I got that specially made.”

Josie smiled and held it out to Penelope.

“Put it on for me?”

“Anything for you gorgeous.”

Penelope became vaguely aware that everyone else had definitely finished unwrapping presents, and they were probably just trying their best to ignore them, but she didn’t care. 

Josie was all that mattered.

When Penelope was done putting the necklace on, Josie looked up, smiling.

“I love it Pen.” She picked up Penelope’s present and held it out. 

“I now feel like I can’t compare in anyway to your gift,” Josie told her, with just a hint of insecurity.

“Don’t worry, you’re the only gift I need darling.”

Josie blushed, and Penelope knew that no matter what was in the wrapping paper, she’d love it. It was from Josie, how could she not?

The wrapping paper tore away, and Penelope found herself holding what seemed to be a leather-bound book. Josie reached over and opened it to the first page, and Penelope’s mouth fell open.

There was a picture of Penelope, on the first day of Kindergarten, the one that her dad had made her stay still for, because one day she’d want it. She’d thought he’d lost it.

Her eyes fell to the page next to it, where a picture of Josie and Lizzie lay, both of them clearly also ready for their first day. Penelope had never seen this picture, but she had been there for the actual day so she supposed that she hadn’t needed to. They were so tiny.

Had they all really been that small when they’d first met?

There was also a picture of Hope, and she somehow managed to look grumpy, even as a five-year-old. It seemed that she hadn’t been excited about that photo being taken.

“You’d better be thankful Park, I was planning for that photo to never see the light of day,” Hope yelled across the room. 

Hayley laughed. “Oh darling, that photo is coming back on graduation, you’re not going to escape it.”

Penelope turned away from the Mikaelson bickering to look at Josie.

“What is this?”

“It’s a photo album, with pictures of all of us, from the first day we met, all the way to now.”

Penelope flicked through the pages and found that to be true.

So many pictures, she hadn’t even realised how many of these events had been photographed.

The first school camp they ever went on.

The first trip to Rousseau’s. 

The time Hope got a broken arm after falling off her bike.

The Middle School disco, and their tacky outfits.

The first play Penelope was ever in.

Her fingers rested for a while on the picture that Penelope had forced Josie to take on their first date. There had been a photobooth at the fair, and Penelope had forced them into it, although Josie hadn’t really resisted too much. 

There were three photos; one where they were just smiling, one where Penelope had chosen to wink at the camera as Josie stuck her tongue out, and one where Penelope had pulled Josie into a surprise kiss.

“I honestly thought I’d lost this,” Josie confessed with a small smile.

Penelope turned back to Josie.

“I love it, but may I ask why?”

“Your love speech inspired me, actually. All these moments in our life, they don’t deserve to be forgotten. So, I went to my parents, the Mikaelsons, your dad, our friends, and got as many photos as I could. And now, if things ever get hard, and you need a reminder of all the good things, here’s one, with plenty to choose from.”

Penelope smiled at Josie.

“You’re so thoughtful, you know that?”

“I think it’s one of the things you love about me.”

“I love everything about you.”

+++

After they’d packed up all the wrapping paper, and had a feast fit for several kings and queens, every found themselves relaxing somewhere. The adults had gathered in the courtyard, as always, and Hope and Lizzie were in Hope’s bedroom, probably getting distracted by each other.

Penelope and Josie were just walking the halls, probably going to a guest bedroom, where they could just hang out.

Penelope saw it before Josie did, and she stopped, trying to hide her smile.

Josie turned around, her smile fading just a little as it mixed with confusion.

“What?”

“Come a little closer.”

Josie frowned, but she stepped closer. Penelope entwined their hands.

“Penelope, I love you, but what are you doing?”

“I think someone in the Mikaelson household is a love expert.”

Josie rolled her eyes.

“Pen.”

“Yes?”

“You’re being cryptic again.”

Penelope lifted her head up slightly, gesturing at the ceiling.

“Look up.”

Josie looked up, and when her eyes fell back down, she was smiling again.

“Mistletoe.”

“You know what that means.”

“You are aware that you don’t need to use mistletoe as an excuse to kiss me, right?”

“Yeah, but it’s more festive this way.”

“You’re such a dork.”

“I'm your dork.”

“Shut up and kiss me Pen.”

“As you wish Jojo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're so close the end of this journey! Just one more chapter to go, and then we'll be done! I've decided that I'm going to try and release that chapter on what will be Christmas Day for me, so it's like a Christmas present from me to all of you, for being such amazing readers! My hint for the final chapter: the first day of school, and a little bit after.  
> Until next time, remember that you are amazing, and that I think you're super cool!


	45. Chapter 45

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S HERE! WE'RE AT THE FINAL CHAPTER! MERRY CHRISTMAS MY LOVELY READERS, I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS CHAPTER! ALSO, THERE WILL BE A SUPER LONG NOTE AT THE END, JUST LETTING YOU KNOW! OKAY!  
> ENJOY!!

When Josette Forbes-Laughlin woke up on the first day of school, her first though was ‘holy shit, it’s finally time’. 

Such a change from the last time that she’d had a first day of school. The last time, she’d been dreading going to school, and having to face the ex that she was still in love with.

She hadn’t known anything about the musical, Hope and Lizzie were still not talking to each other, Jade was her girlfriend, and if you asked her what she thought about Penelope Park, Josie would have told you that she hated her.

She’d be lying, of course, but she still would’ve said it, in an effort to convince herself.

Josie reached for the phone on her bedside table. Surprisingly, Penelope had already texted her. That girl had slept in every single day for the past twelve years, and today she was awake before Josie.

She must really be excited about this. And who could blame her? Josie was excited too.

**Pen <3 😊: Hey gorgeous, you ready for this?**

**Josie: Ready as i’ll ever be**

**Pen <3😊: that’s my girl**

Josie blushed. Even after so much time, thinking of herself as Penelope’s brought a smile to her face. Because she knew that Penelope thought of herself the same way.

Penelope was Josie’s, Josie was Penelope’s, and it had been that way for as long as they’d known each other.

A knock sounded at her door and Josie looked up. Caroline poked her head through the door.

“Hey sweetie, you ready for your first day at the Salvatore School?”

Josie shrugged, already feeling the nerves tingling through her bones.

“I’m ready. I’m really freaking nervous, but I’m ready.”

Caroline beamed. “That’s my daughter. Come on down, Jo’s made breakfast. I’ll try and get Lizzie up so she can say goodbye before we head off.”

It was strange to be thinking that she’d be saying goodbye to Lizzie for a whole school day. Strange, but she knew that it wouldn’t be goodbye for long. Her sister would be texting her, hungry for details, the whole day. And then she’d get home, and it’d be interrogation city.

She headed downstairs and smiled at Jo, before piling pancakes onto her plate.

“Thank you for the pancakes mum,” Josie said.

“No worry darling, it’s your first day, and I just want to make sure it starts off as good as possible.”

Josie nodded, and then checked her phone from any new messages from Penelope. There were already two more. Her girlfriend was not exactly one to be ashamed about double texting.

**Pen <3😊: do you want to meet out front?**

**Pen <3😊: because i kind of think it’d be nice to have you by my side as we face this new challenge**

Josie smiled and texted back.

**Josie: yeah that actually sounds great**

**Josie: and that way i can make sure that no cute theatre kids start getting ideas**

**Pen <3😊: is someone feeling a little possessive miss forbes-laughlin**

**Josie: would that be a problem miss park**

**Pen <3😊: as long as you don’t start stabbing people, i think it’d be kinda hot tbh**

**Josie: you’re such a dork**

**Pen <3😊: what can i say, i’m in love**

“Josie, get off the phone with your girlfriend, you’ll have plenty of time with her later. It is time for you to talk to me for the last time before you are forever changed by your experiences at this new school.”

Josie rolled her eyes and looked up at Lizzie.

“Good morning to you too.”

“Whatever, now tell Penelope that you need to talk to me.”

**Josie: lizzie is calling sister chat time. talk later?**

**Pen <3😊: yeah text me when you leave**

**Pen <3😊: and tell lizzie that she is not horrible**

**Josie; sure thing**

“Penelope says that you aren’t horrible.”

“Ew, tell your girlfriend to stop hitting on me. I’m taken, and she is so not my type.”

Josie decided that she didn’t need to tell Penelope that. 

“So, any last words before I leave you forever?” 

Lizzie immediately launched into a rant about sisterhood, and abandonment, and possibly also feminism, but Josie sort of tuned it out. She knew her sister just needed to get words out, and it really didn’t matter if she listened.

Josie was too busy thinking about how everything was about to change.

+++

Lizzie, to her credit, didn’t try to hide her tears when she hugged Josie goodbye. Josie knew her sister was just being dramatic, but she also felt an ache at the thought of being separate, so she didn’t mention it.

Sometimes, change was hard.

But sometimes change was really fucking exciting.

Josie could barely sit still in the car ride over to the school. At least she knew the campus, and she’d met her teachers, and she had a map just in case she forgot where things were.

And she had Penelope.

Penelope who she texted nearly the whole car ride, except for when her mum wanted to talk to her about how she was feeling. 

Josie told her about how she felt so excited that she might throw up, and her mother laughed. 

When her mother drove off, Josie had a moment where she felt like she wanted to melt into the earth. There were so many people there, people who were probably talented as shit, and maybe Josie didn’t belong here.

Maybe she just got lucky on this one performance, and maybe she didn’t deserve this and maybe—

But she didn’t get much time to think about maybes. 

Because Penelope Park walked into her field of vision, and everything snapped back into colour, back out of that frozen moment where her stomach had dropped to the floor.

She saw Penelope and she remembered every single time that she’d doubted herself, and how at every single one, Penelope had been there to tell her that she didn’t need to doubt herself, because she was amazing.

And she was amazing. She was Josie Forbes-Laughlin, and she was so freaking amazing. 

This school wasn’t going to know what hit them.

Penelope walked over and smiled at Josie.

“So, scale of one to ten, how freaked are you?”

“Actually, it’s about a three. I deserve to be here, and so do you. If there are people who don’t like us, we’ll prove them wrong.”

Penelope grinned and put an arm around Josie’s shoulder.

“That’s my girl. I love the confidence, it’s a great look on you.”

“Stop flirting.”

“You would have more luck asking the sun not to shine.”

+++

Lessons were fairly similar to how they had been. She still had to go to Maths and English, but the rest of it was arts focused. They learnt about lighting techniques, and makeup and costuming. 

Josie was mostly excited for the Music class, where she’d get to study music theatre, and she’d get to do weekly performances to improve presentation skills. 

And of course, the drama class, where they’d be working towards putting on a play. While her last school had been good, the play had been sort of low budget, and they’d only had after school rehearsals for it. Here, she’d get to spend lesson time focused on refining her performance and getting better.

Sure, maybe she wouldn’t get the leading lady first try, but Josie found that she wasn’t too discouraged by that possibility. There was time to improve, and no matter what she’d be doing, she’d be on the stage.

While she didn’t have all her classes with Penelope, she found that she actually made friends. She’d met a very nice girl named Nini, who had been in a similar position to Josie last year.

The two were actually very similar, and Josie was mostly just glad that not everyone at this school was a diva.

She introduced Nini to Penelope are recess, and Nini introduced the two of them to some of her other friends, such as Julie and Flynn. They were all lovely people, and they were all very interested in performing and theatre.

Of course, the topic of dating came up, and the three girls thought it was adorable that Penelope and Josie had come to this school together. They all hoped to see the two of them in action on stage, as the chemistry would be ‘something to die for’.

Josie found out that Nini had a boyfriend, Ricky, who she’d left behind at her old school, but they’d managed to make it work. He apparently wasn’t too bad at theatre himself, and he was also apparently an idiot who had made a fair few mistakes when it came to relationships. 

Something told Josie that Penelope and Ricky would get along.

The whole day actually went really well. Josie wasn’t surprised though. She’d had faith that it would work out.

The best part was that she finally felt like she’d found a place where she could flourish. It felt like she’d finally found the rest of the puzzle to put her piece in.

It was the first time in a long time that she’d come away from a day of school not feeling drained because of how bad or boring the day had been. It had been a good day, and she was just tired because of how much had happened.

When she walked out of the gates, Josie could smile, and mean it 100%.

“So, would I be right in saying that you enjoyed that as much as I did?” Penelope walked up next to Josie, and looked over at her with a smile.

Josie nodded. “It was perfect.”

“We’re in the light Jojo.”

“We are.”

They stood there, waiting for Josie mum and Penelope’s dad. There was silence, but it was not uncomfortable. It never was between them.

Then Penelope started grinning and bouncing on her toes, and Josie got the distinct impression that she was up to something.

“What?”

“Hmm?”

“You have that look on your face that you get when you’re planning something.”

“Maybe I’m just smiling.”

“Penelope, I know you too well to fall for that.”

Penelope laughed. “That’s very true.”

Josie nudged her. “So, what is it?”

“Are you free tonight?”

“Uh, yeah, but it’s a school night.”

“Relax Jojo, I’ll have you home by nine, if that’s something you’re worried about.”

Josie was definitely interested now.

“You’re taking me out?”

Penelope finally turned to face Josie fully.

“If that’s something you’d be down for.”

“Are you kidding? If it’s with you, I’m down for anything.”

Penelope beamed. “Great, then I’ll pick you up at six? Get you home at nine?”

“Do I get to know what’s happening?”

Penelope laughed, and gave Josie a sly grin.

“But Jojo, that would be spoiling things. Just wear something cute, and prepare to be romanced.”

+++

When Josie got home, Lizzie was waiting for her. Josie wasn’t surprised, she knew Lizzie too well to think that she would just calmly wait in her bedroom.

No. Lizzie was one for dramatics, and she generally didn’t do well with patience, so it made sense that she was literally waiting by the door as Josie entered.

The moment she was in the house, Lizzie swept her into a tight hug.

“Oh my god Josie, it’s been too long.”

“It’s been barely eight hours,” Josie choked out, the air left inside of her getting squeezed out of her like toothpaste out of the tube.

Some things never changed. Like how strong Lizzie’s hugs were.

“Liz darling, you’re going to suffocate Josie. Which would mean that you wouldn’t get to hear about her day,” Caroline reminded her, smiling at the two of them fondly.

Lizzie immediately let go.

“Jo, tell me everything.”

Josie took a deep breath, and then let herself be led to the couch.

“So, what happened?”

Josie turned to her mothers.

“Before I start telling you guys about my day, can I go out with Penelope tonight? She promised that she’d have me back at nine?”

Caroline chuckled. “Romance doesn’t even stop for school, I guess. You can go out, but definitely stick to that nine o’clock curfew. I don’t want you tired for tomorrow.”

“Where’s Penelope taking you?” Lizzie, surprisingly, was actually very interested in Josie’s love life with Penelope. She said it was that she was becoming more of a supportive sister. Josie honestly didn’t care; it was just nice to be able to gush to her sister about everything.

“It’s a surprise.”

“A surprise? I wonder what it could be.” Lizzie’s eyes sparkled, and her grin plainly told Josie that she knew something that Josie didn’t.

“What do you know?”

Lizzie tried to school her features into a picture of innocence.

“Me? Why would I know anything, it’s your date?”

“Hope told you something didn’t she?”

Lizzie blushed at the mention of Hope.

“Maybe, but I can’t tell you. When you get back though, just know that I will be very ready for your ranting.”

Josie smiled. “Thanks Liz.”

“You’re welcome. Now, hurry up and tell me everything so we can go and pick your outfit. If Park is surprising you with a date, we’ll surprise her with a killer outfit.”

+++

Josie sat on the couch, opening up her phone every five seconds, waiting to see if Penelope had texted anything. Logically, she knew that Penelope was driving over, because she’d texted Josie that, about five minutes ago, but Josie still checked.

She just missed Penelope. Which was dumb, because they’d just spent almost the entire day together, but she guessed that was just what love did to you.

Lizzie was waiting with her, and by the look on her face, was also texting Hope. Josie hadn’t got Lizzie to part with any information about the surprise date, not that she’d really wanted any. She liked a little bit of surprise in her life.

The only hint she’d gotten was from Lizzie, who had picked up a jacket and handed it to Josie, telling her that she’d need it, but it wasn’t a very helpful hint, because it was literally February, of course she’d need a jacket.

The doorbell rang, and Josie was on her feet at once. One, two, three, four steps and then she was at the door, fiddling with her lock.

The door opened, and there was Penelope. She looked gorgeous, as always, in black jeans, and jacket. Josie could smell her perfume, and she sighed instinctually, her body falling into the relaxed state that it always did around Penelope.

Penelope was safe. She knew that well now.

“Hey Jojo,” Penelope greeted, her voice soft, like if she spoke any louder, Josie would disintegrate in front of her.

“Hey Pen,” Josie said back, almost as soft, still trying to comprehend how she was allowed to love this beautiful woman in front of her.

“Hi Lizzie,” Lizzie added from behind Josie’s shoulder. The two of them were pulled out of their bubble. Penelope grinned at Lizzie.

“Hey Elizabeth, please tell me that you kept your mouth shut about the surprise.”

Lizzie waved her hand absentmindedly. “Don’t worry Park, your secret was kept, she knows nothing.”

Penelope nodded. “Good.” She held out her hand and Josie took it, smiling and lacing their hands like she had done almost a million times by now.

“Bye Lizzie.” 

“Goodbye Josette. Park, you’d better have her home by curfew, or I’ll shred you myself.”

“Love you too Lizzie,” Penelope called back, turning to Josie to roll her eyes playfully.

Josie was just glad that now Lizzie’s words didn’t hold any animosity in them.

She climbed into the passenger seat and let Penelope re-join their hands over the console.

“So, do I get to know yet?”

Penelope chuckled. “Nope, sorry Jojo, gotta keep the secret.”

“Penelope, it’s your secret.”

“Yeah, and I pride myself on keeping secrets. You’re just gonna have to figure this one out by yourself Jojo.”

Josie sighed overdramatically. “Oh no, whatever shall I do?”

“You know, you’re such a dork.”

“What gave it away?”

Penelope shook her head, smiling as she pulled out of the driveway.

“Don’t worry, I love it.” Her eyes flicked from the road just for a second, so she could look at Josie.

“I love you.”

It seemed like ever since she’d confessed, Penelope couldn’t get enough of those words. She’d say it whenever she could. It would be whispered during the night, when it felt like they couldn’t get closer. It would be shouted across the park, with the sun beaming down on them. It would be mumbled into Josie’s shoulder. when they were both half asleep, some movie they’d both forgotten running on the TV.

Penelope would say it in the most silent moments, and she’d say it in the loudest.

Josie would never forget it now, and her heart definitely wouldn’t. There was a certain euphoria in hearing those words from the one you cherished so dearly, and her heart had done it’s best to memorise that feeling.

They spent most of the drive silent, just letting the crackle of the radio fill the car. Sometimes a song that they knew would come on, and they’d sing along, neither really trying to sound good, but there was still beauty in their careless singing.

Their hands never left each other.

Then Josie looked out the window and saw the bright lights and colour in the distance. Her heart leapt as her mind put the pieces together.

Penelope smiled, like she could read Josie’s mind, and knew that the secret was finally revealed.

“The fair?”

“I saw that it was going to be in town and I knew that I couldn’t miss the opportunity. We’re both suckers for symbolism. And fairy floss.”

Josie’s eyes fell to Penelope’s jacket and then to her own and she smiled.

“I knew Lizzie made me wear this jacket for a reason.” The jacket she’d worn on her first date with Penelope, to the very fair that they were driving up to now. 

Well, it hadn’t technically been a date, because they hadn’t realised that the other had liked them. Even now she could still remember the way her heart had been racing as Penelope had driven them in.

Penelope nodded. “Lizzie actually did that out of the kindness of her heart.”

“My sister is a romantic at heart.”

“Under all the annoyingness.”

Josie rolled her eyes.

“So, what’s the plan for tonight?”

“Well, we’re going on one of the spinny rides first, don’t worry Jojo, I’ll hold your hand—”

“Please, you’re such a scaredy cat on spinny rides.”

“—and then once we’ve emptied the contents of our stomachs, we’ll get some unhealthy food, go play those rigged games, so I can try and win you a stuffed toy to be romantic. And then, we’ll end it off on the Ferris Wheel.” Penelope grinned over at Josie.

“Does that sound like a plan?”

Josie had to resist the urge to kiss Penelope while she was driving.

“That sounds wonderful.”

+++

Josie wasn’t usually one for fast rides, or ones that made her feel like her intestines were being turned inside out. Lizzie, once she had gotten over her fear of heights, loved that type of thing. She loved the adrenaline and the adventure.

What Josie liked about those rides, was Penelope. Because ever since the first time they’d gone to an amusement park on holiday, Penelope had been there to hold hands with her so she wasn’t scared.

Penelope had held back Josie’s hair when Josie had gotten sick after drinking a milkshake and then going on a ride. Honestly, not Josie’s brightest move.

And of course, Penelope had been the one to convince her to go on a roller-coaster at Six Flags, and then Penelope had thrown up on her shoes. Josie was pretty sure that Penelope had consumed like a million fries beforehand, so really, that was 100% Penelope’s fault.

She didn’t mind though. Because Penelope had bought her new shoes, ones with little yellow flowers on them, and she’d smiled so brightly when Josie had told her jokes to make her feel better after getting sick.

On that first-not-date, they’d decided to pick a ride to go on, to push themselves out of their comfort zones, and to have a bit of excitement. Neither of them had thrown up, but they’d both been buzzing and filled with adrenaline for the next hour or so.

They were going on that exact same ride this time, and Josie was a little bit less nervous now that she knew it wouldn’t dislodge her organs. Penelope squeezed her hand as they sat down in their seats, and Josie squeezed back.

The next few minutes were filled with screaming and Josie not being completely sure if she was upside down or not. She could distinctly hear Penelope laughing and then yelling something every now and then, but the meaning of the words got lost in the wind. 

When the spinning through the air finally ceased and they stumbled off, they made eye contact for about three seconds before they burst into laughter. There was just something about the jumble of adrenaline and euphoria that seemed so hilarious.

After a moment, they caught their breath, and Penelope pulled Josie in for a kiss. The two of them were still shaking, but neither cared.

They pulled apart and Penelope grinned.

“Perhaps we should wait a little bit for dinner?”

Josie giggled. “Yeah, definitely.”

The next twenty minutes was spent with them wasting money at every attraction that offered a prize that looked cute enough for Penelope to want to try and get it.

Penelope sucked at darts, but was surprisingly good at the clowns, and she ended up with a small fluffy white teddy bear. She dropped to one knee, and held it up to Josie.

“My dearest Josie, will you accept this simple offering?”

Josie laughed. “You’re so dramatic.”

“It’s called romance Josie, and I am a true romantic. Plus, you deserve all of it.”

Josie took the teddy bear.

“What should I call them?”

Penelope stood. “What did you name the pink llama I got you last time?”

Josie laughed as she remembered the toy that was probably lying under her bed where she’d thrown it when Penelope had broken up with her.

“I think I called him Jeff. Just because I thought it sounded funny.”

Penelope looked at the teddy bear.

“I think this one is a she.”

Josie grinned. “I have an idea.”

“Is it incredibly dorky?”

“Incredibly.”

“Tell me.”

Josie held up the bear. “Introducing…Gabriella. But we can call her Gabi for short.”

Penelope snorted. “Dork.”

“You love it.”

“I do. Now, come on, I think there is some overpriced pizza and fairy floss with our name on it.”

“I like your thinking Miss Park.”

Penelope linked their arms at the elbows, and gave Josie her best charming smile.

“That’s because I have wonderful thoughts.”

+++

The pizza was horribly overpriced, and it definitely was not good enough to be as expensive as it was. Still, it sated her hunger enough for her to consider it not to be a complete waste of money.

The fairy floss, on the other hand, was amazing. Pure sugar, sculpted into a bright pink cloud? Literally a dream food. Josie was a sucker for it.

Penelope laughed at her as she took massive bites out of it, and then she kissed away the bits of fluff that ended up on the tip of her nose.

When they were finished with their food, they started their walk to the Ferris Wheel.

“You know Josie, I think you might be the most beautiful person to exist.”

Josie looked over at her, letting her love pour out of her eyes, clear for Penelope to see. There was no need to hide it now.

“And how would you know that? You haven’t met everyone.”

“I don’t need to. My heart and head are in agreement, and that’s all the evidence I need.”

“You can be such a smooth talker when you want to be.”

Penelope chuckled. “Of course I am, how do you think i got you to fall in love with me?”

“Right, because it wasn’t how caring, and kind, and strong, and loving you are.”

Penelope was silent for a moment, as she often was when Josie complimented her like that. She watched Josie with wonder, like she was the first star to break through the night.

“Did I leave you speechless,” Josie teased.

Penelope laughed, still that gentle loving laugh mixed with awe.

“You did. It’s just amazing that you love me. I worked so hard to be good enough, and honestly, there were so many times that I thought I’d lost you.” She joined their hands. “But you’re here, standing with me, looking at me with love, and I realise that I’m worth it.”

“You’ve always been worth it.”

Penelope nodded. “I know that now. Thank you for helping me realise that.”

Josie smiled. “It was my pleasure. You helped me do the same. Without you, and the way you’ve always believed in me, I don’t think I’d be half as confident and comfortable as I am now.”

“Well then, we complete each other rather nicely.” Penelope turned to look at the Ferris Wheel, only a little way away from them.

“Come on, this is my favourite part.”

“What a coincidence,” Josie said, skipping forwards, “it’s mine too.”

+++

They had a carriage all to themselves, which meant that Josie got to cuddle right up to Penelope, and lean her head on her shoulder.

On their first-not- date, Josie had been so nervous. That whole date she’d been nervous, terrified that she was going to do something dumb and she’d ruin any chance of Penelope liking her back.

Tonight, there were none of those nerves. There was just soft calm, settled deep through her body.

“You know, that first date, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of you.”

Josie looked up at Penelope, who grinned.

“You were so nervous, I remember that, and I remember being so confused as to why. I was just trying to build up the courage to tell you that I liked you, but you were just too pretty, and I kept losing my nerve.”

“I can’t imagine that I was as beautiful as you think.”

“You were so beautiful. I just kept looking at you because I’d been pining over you for so long, and that night was going to be the night I was going to tell you the truth, and I was so scared, but it was you. It had always been you, and so, out of fear that you’d hate me for forever, I kept looking at you, trying to memorise what you looked like when you were smiling.”

Josie didn’t know what to say that.

“I didn’t realise you were so scared.”

“I was fucking terrified.” Penelope turned to look outside of the Ferris Wheel.

“Look out there Jojo.” 

Josie looked.

“What do you see?”

Her eyes scanned the fair. There were multi coloured lights, and tiny faded blobs that would form people, if she was a little closer. There was a cloudless sky, littered with stars, and a moon that wasn’t quite full, but still shone brilliantly. 

She told all of this to Penelope, who smiled.

“Why do you ask?”

Penelope sat up and Josie lifted her head off of her shoulder to look at her. At those brilliant green eyes, and that charming smile.

“I remember looking out at the fair, and I remember that on that night, you told me you were scared of heights. So, I told you that I’d describe the sights to you so you didn’t have to look and get scared.” Penelope looked over at her. “Do you remember this story?”

Josie smiled. “Of course, I remember it. It was pretty memorable.”

Penelope lifted Josie’s hands to her lips and kissed it softly. 

“Well my love, if you remember it so well, do you want to finish the story?”

Josie chuckled. “You were telling me about how pretty it all looked out there, and I decided to take a peek. Then I remembered how scared I was of heights, and I freaked out. I told you to distract me, and you kissed me.” Josie laughed. “You apologised so many times, and I didn’t know how to tell you that it was okay, because you wouldn’t listen, so I kissed you back.”

“I honestly panicked. I had been trying to figure out how to confess to you all night, and suddenly you were freaking out, and all I could think of was kissing you. I should have had some amazing romantic speech, but instead I just rushed in and kissed you.”

Josie shrugged. “For what it’s worth, you made up for the lack of a romantic speech this time.”

“I was very proud of that one.”

“Oh, I know.”

Penelope giggled, entwining her fingers with Josie’s.

“So, do you think this is better than the last time we were here?”

“Considering that this one is actually a date, and I can kiss you whenever I want, yeah, it’s better.”

Penelope grinned. “If you can kiss me whenever you want, do you want to kiss me now?”

Josie rolled her eyes. “You’re so needy.”

“Of course, I am, my girlfriend is an amazing kisser, why wouldn’t I want to kiss her?”

Josie decided that that particular bit of flattery deserved a kiss, and she leant in. Penelope smiled against her lips, and they both kept laughing, but it was still perfect.

When Penelope pulled back, Josie rested their foreheads together, and laid her hand over Penelope’s heart. Penelope’s hand joined her there.

“This is all I’ve ever wanted. Me and you, here, happy, with chances to shine. And maybe it won’t be forever, but right now, I’d be very happy if it was,” Josie whispered, as if her words were too powerful to be spoken at a normal level.

“I feel the same. I love you with all of my heart Josie. Every selfish part, every obnoxious part, every downright evil part of my heart is yours. For as long as you want it.”

“All I want is your love, as long as it lasts.”

Penelope smiled and kissed her again.

Josie didn’t know if this was a happy ending, and truly, she didn’t want it to be. For it to be a happy ending, it had to end, and she wanted this story to continue. 

And it would. 

Even if no one was there to read it, even if no one was there to see, Penelope and Josie would still continue.

But for now, here, under the stars, kissing each other softly, kissing away all the pain they’d been through, was enough.

It was all she wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH  
> Okay. Time for my traditional super long note on the final chapter!  
> First, oh wow we're finally here. I have been working on this fic for the last 8 months (wow I did not realise it had been that long)! I have put so much time into this, and now we have a 200k monster of a fic that I have to say, I'm really proud of! It's my third multi chapter fic for this fandom, and it's good to see that even though it's been a while since Posie has been on our screens, there are still those willing to read fics about our girls!  
> Second, to every single person who has read this fic, whether you've left a kudos or not, whether you've commented or not, thank you! Thank you so so much for reading this, it's good to know that people care about and like what I'm writing! Whether you've been here since Day 1, or you just caught up today, you are super cool, and you get a virtual hug from me!  
> Third, a few people have asked me about a sequel for this story, and I will say now, I do not have plans of writing a sequel for this story. As it was said at the end, Penelope and Josie's story will continue, but here is a happy place to leave them! However, I do have plans for some one shots, some angsty, some less angsty (you know by now that I love angst a fair bit), so I will not be leaving this fandom just yet!  
> Fourth, as you all know, this story followed the plot of the Disney + original show, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. A strange inspiration for an AU, I know, but Ricky and Nini's dynamic just felt so much like Posie's and I just had to write this!  
> Now, I must leave you here for now. Usually, I'll send you off with a little positive message, which was partially because you guys deserve all positive things, and partially because I needed to hear those things myself. I hope at least one of you read those, and that they made your day just a little bit better! Today, I will simply wish all of you wonderful readers a Merry Christmas, and a very Happy New Year! Let's all hope that the new year brings us better things!  
> P.S: If you know where I got the names for the two girls that Nini introduces to Josie, (Julie and Flynn), then you get a virtual high five from me!

**Author's Note:**

> So, that's the first chapter! What do we all think? I know it was a little short, but trust me when I say that they will get longer. And unlike what I usually do, this fic will switch between Josie and Penelope's POVs. Next chapter will be from Penelope, and we'll get to see her thoughts on the whole situation! As always, please leave a kudos and/or comment if you enjoyed and I will see you all very soon!


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